New to the Curve

Rocketech1 said:

Would love to see video of her riseball with 6-12 backspin.

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GunnerShotgun said:

Because a riseball at 12u/14u is not a riseball it's just a high fastball. I don't disagree that a high fastball is effective.

If this is the case than every pitcher throws a "riseball". But if you parse this out further, a low fastball is not a drop ball.

Every year dozens of pitchers pitching at the "A" level come to my tryouts and display their "riseball". Over the years only 5% -10% have ever actually had a riseball. I question the amount of time spent learning a pitch that very few pitchers will ever master. If your daughter has D1 talent and the speed to throw it then of course, it makes sense.

Perhaps the answer is, even if they never master the pitch (a high fastball) it can still be effective. I would argue that a low fastball is effective as well but it's not as good as a drop-ball that can be thrown on three different planes at various speeds.

This circles back to the original question if you should be learning the "riseball" before the "curveball". I am just not seeing that in the pitchers we have or the pitchers we face.

To double down on this...an inside pitch is not a screwball. Pitching coaches should be fired for promoting this crap. I do see actual screwballs so I know someone is doing good work out there but for the most part it's nonsense.

The pitch I see thrown the most effectively? The curveball (and dropball). Again just my observations as a coach.

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