- Jul 26, 2010
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The point of a rise ball low in the zone is to make the batter take what they believe to be a low pitch for a strike. While we all know that a rise ball does not actually rise, our brains tell us how the ball should be falling. When the ball does not fall in the same way our brains tell us, we perceive a "rise".
It is very likely that most women, at the college level and below, do not throw fast enough to for a low rise ball to work effectively, insofar as a pitch thrown under 70mph may give the batter enough time to react to any perceived break.
It could also simply be that most rise ball pitchers spend a lot of time on their rise, and it is often their "fastest" pitch. A pitch thrown low takes less time to break the plane of the plate then a pitch thrown high, so the pitch is actually "faster" when thrown straight/low then it is thrown high. It may just be the decreased time to react that throws the batters off. Maybe this is more ammo for GD's fastball argument? I don't know, just speculating here.
-W
It is very likely that most women, at the college level and below, do not throw fast enough to for a low rise ball to work effectively, insofar as a pitch thrown under 70mph may give the batter enough time to react to any perceived break.
It could also simply be that most rise ball pitchers spend a lot of time on their rise, and it is often their "fastest" pitch. A pitch thrown low takes less time to break the plane of the plate then a pitch thrown high, so the pitch is actually "faster" when thrown straight/low then it is thrown high. It may just be the decreased time to react that throws the batters off. Maybe this is more ammo for GD's fastball argument? I don't know, just speculating here.
-W