How To Grip and Throw the Vulcan

Vulcan – The Vulcan is another form of the change up. It could also be considered a form of a split finger because of the grip. The pitch however will do something different than a split finger. The grip for a Vulcan change up is splitting the middle and ring finger far apart on the ball.

Usually this split of the fingers will be very wide and tucked deep into the fingers. It is almost like if you could push these two fingers together the baseball would be cut directly in half.

Unlike the split finger, the Vulcan will still mimic a change up. This happens because the pointer and middle fingers are the dominant fingers on the hand. Therefore, they will lead the ball in the throwing motion and when the baseball comes out it will have the spin to make the ball tail.

Again, you should grip the Vulcan according to which type of fastball you throw. This pitch is a little harder to control than the circle change but usually has more downward action.

It is also a good change up to try if the pitcher is having a hard time keeping the same arm speed as a fastball because they will need to throw this ball with everything they’ve got to get it up there.