Topspin Vs Bulletspin, Which is Faster?

Bullet spin is typically found in fastballs. If a pitcher attempts to throw a rise and doesn't get under it well enough then the rotation will have more of a bullet spin. The illusion of a rise ball is a low to high trajectory and the tight backspin will create a lift so the ball will fight gravity and will not drop any, continuing upwards in its original trajectory. In the same manner side spins will curve into their rotation.
However, when a batter or catcher sees a quality rise ball... its amazing how the ball will seem to jump upwards. We are so deeply ingrained in our brains to expect gravity to plateau that pitch and in our minds eye we expect to ball to be here and not there. Thus giving us the conclusion the ball jumped up. When in reality it just never plateaued.
As to the original question, which one is faster... Speed isn't determined by the rotation, but by the pitcher. Her overall mechanics are far more important in gaining speed.

Just about everyone misinterpreted my question. I was trying to find out whether topspin (fingers behind the ball at release) or bullet/rise spin (fingers sliding under the ball in some fashion) would make for more speed. I understand that it might vary for each individual pitcher. I have always taught topspin for the fastball but I am not so sure if that's really the best approach given what research shows about how the mind/brain interprets speed and from this projects a trajectory. If the brain underestimates the speed of the pitch the hitter will swing under the ball, so why would you want your fastest pitch to drop. Of course there are other factors involved like spin recognition and location in the zone which could effect the outcome but in general it seems like you would want your fastest pitch to stay up not drop with just the opposite for your slower off speed stuff.

I don't think it was that many misinterpreted your question as it was the discussion got side-tracked, or hijacked.

Logic and common sense would say fingers behind the ball but as this is pitching, so logic may be out the window. in our case dd drop is her fastest pitch. In any event I would take topspin any day over corkscrew. Even though the brain can interpret what the ball may do, this holds true for both. So now you have one that moves and one that doesn't. I would also say that in our area girls aren't taught to read spin at an early age.
Add in that you can control the speed and movement, the brain has to work even harder. In our area most girls throw a corkscrew so it is very hard for hitters to adjust to topspin and square up and that is the key. Oh it gets hit but for weak ground ball. As girls/woman get better at reading pitches, one would have to think that pitchers would get better at making needed adjustments.

No expert here but, hey! I got an opinion. The riseball is just a ball thrown from low to high, sort of. Actually it's going to have the same trajectory as any normal ball thrown at a decent velocity, it's just that because this is the fastest/hardest pitch they throw it will start it's downward trajectory somewhere behind the batter/catcher. Rick Pauley taught something unknowingly - properly taught batters learn to get on a swing plane where the ball has a downward angle - the rise ball's angle, as it passes through the strike zone, is the exact opposite - a very hard ball to hit because of this. In fact, when a girl throws a riseball the batter has no choice but to try and intercept the ball at a specific point in space versus swinging through an impact zone that has a little leeway in being early or late.

If a girl is lucky enough to time the intercept perfectly it will be a long and hard hit ball, why? Because this is the hardest and fastest pitch a girl has - a transfer of kinetic energy - science rules.

Before this rise ball thread gets closed ….

I am always surprised looking at the charts that show the various pitch speeds. If the P wants to it seems they can throw the CB as fast as their FB, forget bullet or topspin on the FB.

Doug Romrell said:

Javasource posted the following two months ago. This pitch sure isn't a bullet spin!

Click to expand...

FiveFrameSwing said:

Click to expand...

What would be great is to see a drop ball pitch with great forward ball rotation thrown with the same initial trajectory. I'll bet it would be caught a full foot lower.