ProHittingCages.com: How To Grip And Throw A Circle Changeup ( Part 5)

ProHittingCages.com: How To Grip And Throw A Circle Changeup ( Part 5): Circle changeup The circle changeup and the four-seam fastball are what got me to professional baseball. They're both great pitche...

How To Grip And Throw A Circle Changeup ( Part 5)

Circle changeup

The circle changeup and the four-seam fastball are what got me to professional baseball. They're both great pitches.
To throw a circle changeup make - quite literally - a circle or an "OK" gesture with your throwing hand (using your thumb and index fingers). You then center the baseball between your three other fingers (as shown in the middle picture above right). The baseball should be tucked comfortably against the circle.
Throw this pitch with the same arm speed and body mechanics as a fastball, only slightly turn the ball over by throwing the circle to the target. This is called pronating your hand. (Think about this as giving someone standing directly in front of you a "thumbs down" sign with your throwing hand.) This reduces speed and gives you that nice, fading movement to your throwing-arm side of the plate.
A great way to develop the "fastball mechanics" but changeup speed is to practice throwing your changeup as you long toss (throwing beyond 90 feet). Alternate fastballs and changeups at 90-or-more feet for about 20 throws a couple of times a week.



Resource from thecompletepitcher.com/pitching_grips.htm#q3 

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Step 2: Grip

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How To Grip And Throw A Four Seam Fastball

Four-seam fastball

To grip the four seam fastball, place your index and middle fingertips directly on the perpendicular seam of the baseball. The "horseshoe seam" should face into your ring finger of your throwing hand (as shown in the picture on the left). I call it the horseshoe seam simply because the seam itself looks like the shape of a horseshoe.
Next, place your thumb directly beneath the baseball, resting on the smooth leather (as shown in the picture on the right). Ideally, you should rest your thumb in the center of the horseshoe seam on the bottom part of the baseball.
Grip this pitch softly, like an egg, in your fingertips. There should be a "gap" or space between the ball and your palm (as shown in the middle picture). This is the key to throwing a good, hard four-seam fastball with maximal backspin and velocity: A loose grip minimizes "friction" between your hand and the baseball. The less friction, of course, the quicker the baseball can leave your hand.
Does a four-seam fastball rise?
"No," says Bill James, author of the The Neyer/James Guide to Pitchers. "A fastball can't rise unless it's thrown underhand. But if you throw the fastball overhand with enough force, it will appear to rise because it's not dropping as much as the batter's brain thinks it should."

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Resource from thecompletepitcher.com/pitching_grips.htm#q3