Hitting the riseball thread is closed

[BoardMember]

make sure it's not her back knee bending, which leans the whole body back

Spoken by a true fastpitch player..........

[kenkrause]

Ken:

How to stop a hitter from dropping hands and taking them straight to ball can be fixed in a NY minute: first, make sure it's not her back knee bending, which leans the whole body back, then put a football in her armpit as she's in her batting stance, this will keep the elbow up and she won't be able to collapse it. Man oh man, do I have to do EVERYTHING around here?????? ha ha ha

BTW, if I get a vote, I say drop this thread all together. Teaching people how to hit a riseball will put me out of business.

In all seriousness, the constant reminder and verbiage is needed to KEEP THE HANDS ABOVE THE BALL. That's the real secret. Sadly, there's no way to "teach" that without constantly seeing riseballs in batting practice. My lesson days are filled with 1/2 pitching lessons and 1/2 throwing live BP. The team I work with the most and throw to every hitter weekly in Ohio just won the 14U ASA Hall of Fame tournament in OKC. Impressive for an Ohio team. I throw a constant barrage of riseballs to them which they've learned to adapt to. The other key ingredient is to learn how to read the pitcher to know when it's coming. When you know what pitch is coming, that's over 50% of the battle won right there. Imagine how much easier a riseball would be to hit and how easy to keep the hands above the ball if you KNOW it's coming.

It would be nice if it truly mattered who had the prettiest swing and who's swing mechanics are "correct". But, in my mind, there's a huge difference between learning to swing and learning how to hit the moving pitch. You can't do that from a book, a website, a video, etc. And as someone else pointed out on the old thread, most hitting gurus have not seen a riseball themselves, live from a batters box. Not saying that is the most important factor but, it certainly helps.

Bill

Bill, you are and remain a funny guy. I understand your concern about teaching people how to hit the riseball, though.

By the way, I wish you were a little closer to our area. I'd definitely hire you to throw some BP to our girls. But I don't think I could afford the per diem and travel expenses to bring you here from Ohio.

I agree that the prettiest swing isn't the determining factor on who hits, riseball or any other pitch for that matter. I think there are certain things that need to happen in a certain order to give you a better chance, but you have to swing the bat. It's not like gymnastics, where you're given points for technical proficiency and degree of difficulty. It's pretty black and white in our sport. You either hit it or you don't.

What I've found is instruction in fastpitch is sort of like the pirate rules from the Pirates of the Carribbean movies -- they're really more like guidelines. Keeping the hands above the ball is one. Starting with the hips is another.

It seems that the more raw talent a hitter has, the more she can vary from the ideal and still get the job done. Those with lesser natural gifts have to stay closer to the ideal in order to have the best chance to hit the ball hard and consistently.

Of course, practicing whatever it is you're going to do can't be underestimated. I don't think any of us would be too anxious to be cut into by a neurosurgeon who hasn't picked up a scalpel for a few weeks.

[curiousgeorge]

Bill, you are and remain a funny guy. I understand your concern about teaching people how to hit the riseball, though.

I freaking love Bill's newsletters. He goes for the throat sometimes, huh? Sometimes I think he's too apologetic in what he says but, then I don't have to deal with his email responses and hate mail.

By the way, I wish you were a little closer to our area. I'd definitely hire you to throw some BP to our girls. But I don't think I could afford the per diem and travel expenses to bring you here from Ohio.

Amen. This would be worth GOLD. I would assume Bill can speed up or slow it down to whatever speed necessary, similar to a pitching machine. But you cannot simulate the movement anywhere else.

I agree that the prettiest swing isn't the determining factor on who hits, riseball or any other pitch for that matter. I think there are certain things that need to happen in a certain order to give you a better chance, but you have to swing the bat. It's not like gymnastics, where you're given points for technical proficiency and degree of difficulty. It's pretty black and white in our sport. You either hit it or you don't.

True but there are various kinds of hits and how hard the ball is hit. So there are some variables.

What I've found is instruction in fastpitch is sort of like the pirate rules from the Pirates of the Carribbean movies -- they're really more like guidelines. Keeping the hands above the ball is one. Starting with the hips is another.

It seems that the more raw talent a hitter has, the more she can vary from the ideal and still get the job done. Those with lesser natural gifts have to stay closer to the ideal in order to have the best chance to hit the ball hard and consistently.

While there is truth in this and I see your point, I usually equate pitching to hitting and only copy what the best are actually doing. The greats all do the same things with little exception.

Of course, practicing whatever it is you're going to do can't be underestimated. I don't think any of us would be too anxious to be cut into by a neurosurgeon who hasn't picked up a scalpel for a few weeks.

But Ken, the overall point asked in the original question was being asked generally to "experts" who've never picked up a scalpel at all. Most of the experts doubt what others who play fastpitch claim a riseball is and does. I've heard Steve Englishbey talk in a presentation and while he had some great things to say about hitting I kept asking myselfwhat his hitting credentials are for fastpitch and if this REALLY works in fastpitch. I don't know. Bustos, on the other hand does clinics and she's got a PROVEN swing for how to hit a riseball. It's definetly an interesting topic!

[Mark H]

What is it about the riseball you think may require special swing mechanics?