Thoughts, ideas, tips, and general musings on the game of fastpitch softball.
A corollary to the Law of Opposites
This entry was posted on Friday, April 18, 2008 10:05 PM and is filed under Pitching.
In a previous post I described what I cal the Law of Opposites, which essentially states that to make a ball move in one direction you must first go in the opposite direction.
There is a corollary to this law however. It applies to the changeup. This law says that to make a ball go slow, you must go fast. Not for one of those weak slow your arm down types of changes, but for a true change where you disguise the pitch speed.
Even those who are throwing a true change sometimes will let up off the pitch, especially at the end. That is the wrong approach to take. What it will do is actually make the change faster than it should be. Instead, you should focus on bringing the arm around as fast at you can. Going fast will take you past the normal point of release for a fastball, helping you release the ball at a weaker point. Throwing the ball from a weak release point, of course, will make it go slower.
It is counter-intuitive, but it works. Keep the arm speed up throughout and you'll have greater success with the change.
Ken Krause has been coaching girls fastpitch softball for 15 years. Some may know him as a contributing columnist to Softball Magazine, where he writes Krause's Korner -- a regular column sponsored
by Louisville Slugger. Ken is also the editor of Marc Dagenais' "No BS Softball Performance Newsletter." He is currently a Two Star Master Coach with the National Fastpitch Coaches Association
(NFCA), and is certified by both the Amateur Softball Association (ASA) and American Sports Education Program (ASEP). Ken coaches the Lake County Glory 14U team and is a private instructor
specializing in pitchers, hitters, and catchers. He is Head Softball Pitching Instructor at North Shore Baseball Academy in Libertyville, IL and teaches at Pro Player Consultants in McHenry, IL.
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