hitting the change up

Question
I have a great hitting team both short and long game but no one
can lay off the change up. What drills and strategies are out there
for teaching girls to hit the change?

Answer
Anticipating when the pitcher will throw a change is the best defense. Scout her in earlier games if possible to get a feel when she likes to throw it. How often does she throws it? Most importantly does she tip it off somehow? With this knowledge, your batters can greatly improve their chances of hitting the change.

We use to have two pitching machines set up right next to one another. One would be a pitch a fastball and one would pitch much slower. The person feeding would hold two balls act like they were feeding both machines but would drop only one. It helped our players a lot.

A tip I heard from Larry Mays is to teach your batters to lock their front knee when they get caught on a change-up. Normally on a change-up the batter is already out in front with all of the weight distributed on their front leg. By locking the front knee the weight will at least balance making it easier to pivot and hit the ball a little bit harder. It also helps retime the swing.

As you are aware once a batter shifts her hands and weight forward it's nearly impossible to drive the ball. What you might also consider is teaching your players to change the swing into a bunt. If the batter is already in trouble and has 2 strikes putting a bunt down is much better than whiffing at air or hitting a weak grounder.