DD is 12 she's been pitching for about 3.5 years. When she throws her fb inside or high it has bullet spin most of the time. When she throws fb aways it gets semicurve spin. She's been working on a drop for a couple of years and it's ok. Sometimes it's flat and sometimes it has good down spin and moves a little. The bullet spin fb and drop are 50mph. She worked on a palm up curve ball for awhile and it's never took hold. So we started playing around with riseball about a month ago. Trying to get backspin on the ball. She gets decent backspin but can only throw the pitch about 43-44 mph. I've heard people say the rise takes years to perfect. What are some of you guys experience with teaching your DD the riseball. How long did it take? At what speed did it start looking like a good pitch?
riseball
- Thread starter humpty
- Start date
Welcome to Discuss Fastpitch
Your FREE Account is waiting to the Best Softball Community on the Web.
I heard you couldn't start until 12yr/50mph. Here is DD's 12yr.old "Rise"???. A ball that finishes higher than it started, (not to get the reg. riseball arguments going) and right across the plate, throwen in contrast to the drop & no arch.
Definitely want 12/6 spin on it. Not sure how fast, but guessing 50mph. Didn't take long...she has seen my joke rise video's, and knew what it was supposed to do. No curves. Just straight.
Definitely want 12/6 spin on it. Not sure how fast, but guessing 50mph. Didn't take long...she has seen my joke rise video's, and knew what it was supposed to do. No curves. Just straight.
Last edited:
- Dec 7, 2011
- 2,368
- 38
The magical speed gun read-out for DD was 52mph. But I cannot say this wasn't some sort of spin-count threshold that happened at that time,.....just don't know for sure but I know 52 was the magical speed on the gun.
MY OPINION - a good, real riseball takes hold on those pitchers that start off with the bullet-spin FB in their first years. I also feel that in my DD's case her PC started focusing on the rb right after the cu. It was her third pitch and she threw and threw and threw it to gain it as a solid pitch number three before moving onto other pitches. I think this was key. When DD got into HS age and we started knowing more and more TB-SB folks I started to become a trusted catcher for all the pitchers that were getting over 55mph where many other parent/coach catchers started having difficulty. So I had the opportunity to catch for many many other pitchers. And I can tell ya this with confidence, learning the rb late, I believe, rarely produces a good real rise.
I keep saying "real" riseball becasue a rb is the only pitch I think that can be faked, and consistently is, by throwing an "up-trajectory" pitch.
MY OPINION - a good, real riseball takes hold on those pitchers that start off with the bullet-spin FB in their first years. I also feel that in my DD's case her PC started focusing on the rb right after the cu. It was her third pitch and she threw and threw and threw it to gain it as a solid pitch number three before moving onto other pitches. I think this was key. When DD got into HS age and we started knowing more and more TB-SB folks I started to become a trusted catcher for all the pitchers that were getting over 55mph where many other parent/coach catchers started having difficulty. So I had the opportunity to catch for many many other pitchers. And I can tell ya this with confidence, learning the rb late, I believe, rarely produces a good real rise.
I keep saying "real" riseball becasue a rb is the only pitch I think that can be faked, and consistently is, by throwing an "up-trajectory" pitch.
- May 24, 2010
- 93
- 8
First, let's assume a riseball is a pitch with less arc than a FB. No matter if you throw it high in the zone or straight out the middle..
The ball MUST have a flatter path than a FB would.
In my non-expert opinion, to achieve that effect the spin is more important than the speed, but there is in fact a minimum speed required to make the maguns effect defy gravity (side movements require less speed considering there's no side force acting on the ball). I believe you can start with a decent riseball at 50-53 IF the angle and rate of spin are optimum.
I don't believe it's possible to make the ball "rise" below 50 mph.
Please check this out: Rise Ball Secrets Great softball pitching hints and recommendations for girl softball pitchers
The ball MUST have a flatter path than a FB would.
In my non-expert opinion, to achieve that effect the spin is more important than the speed, but there is in fact a minimum speed required to make the maguns effect defy gravity (side movements require less speed considering there's no side force acting on the ball). I believe you can start with a decent riseball at 50-53 IF the angle and rate of spin are optimum.
I don't believe it's possible to make the ball "rise" below 50 mph.
Please check this out: Rise Ball Secrets Great softball pitching hints and recommendations for girl softball pitchers
Kinda what I did... I made a video of her and altered it to a rise two years ago....then made this joke with all the curves and a hop...we laughed, then I said just straight... She is a student of pitching.
The thing that I think helps is for her to see her pitching all together, and me not being able to bark out corrections. I stay busy trying to catch...can't watch what she's doing @ the same time. eyes/glasses
It's all video review now.She knows she needs somthing high to complete the skem. This isn't playing right...takes a minute to warm up
because I couldn't get the other 2 pitches on this... it was the adding titles that messed it up. Also it might be going 60fps... It gives it the slo-mo.
Last edited:
Thats why we don't use the term FastBall... She was taught her "fb" is the drop/arch. Rise no arch.
- Oct 22, 2009
- 1,779
- 0
My own DD fell into the rise by accident. At 11 she broke her pitching wrist. When she came back to pitch, she coddled the ball and was putting backspin on it. Her PC at the time demanded she stop. His assistant though told us to let her continue to do it. Tough decision at the time, and we chose to let her do it. Left the PC.--He was a step style instructor.
She was throwing 50 at 12, and the rise became her predominate pitch from then on.
As for my students, I start them around 11 with the spin, right after they start throwing the drop. We work on it every now and then to check it and see how it's coming along.
At 12, or sometimes older, whenever I feel they are really getting the spin down, I'll start having them throw it. I always tell them to never think of the rise as a high pitch, but to think of it as a spinning pitch. We work on adding the hip angle which they already know because I teach that around 10/11 when they start hitting spots.
She was throwing 50 at 12, and the rise became her predominate pitch from then on.
As for my students, I start them around 11 with the spin, right after they start throwing the drop. We work on it every now and then to check it and see how it's coming along.
At 12, or sometimes older, whenever I feel they are really getting the spin down, I'll start having them throw it. I always tell them to never think of the rise as a high pitch, but to think of it as a spinning pitch. We work on adding the hip angle which they already know because I teach that around 10/11 when they start hitting spots.
Similar threads
