Riseball spin

[Rick Pauly]

I am posting a link from my website to a paper written by Scott Sarginson, one of the most respected posters on many softball forums. As Scott suggests near the end of the paper.....I don't expect this to change the minds of some hardliners regarding late break/jumping riseballs/ etc........what I can tell you is that this interaction with Scott changed the attitude of a person who had seen it all and done it all and knew it all. Hope you enjoy the reading and pics.......this was before I got into more expensive high speed video but I think you will get the point. The paper is the first one you will see when scrolling down....."How To Hit The Riseball"

Fastpitch Resources

 

[Amy in AZ.]

^ Very nice, Rick. I have read SSarge's stuff for years.

 

[pobguy]

I am posting a link from my website to a paper written by Scott Sarginson, one of the most respected posters on many softball forums. As Scott suggests near the end of the paper.....I don't expect this to change the minds of some hardliners regarding late break/jumping riseballs/ etc........what I can tell you is that this interaction with Scott changed the attitude of a person who had seen it all and done it all and knew it all. Hope you enjoy the reading and pics.......this was before I got into more expensive high speed video but I think you will get the point. The paper is the first one you will see when scrolling down....."How To Hit The Riseball"

Fastpitch Resources

Very nice and very convincing. Scott understands physics far better than he gives himself credit for. Those side-view shots of the trajectory demonstrate the points I have been emphasizing far better than any words I could muster.

 

[JJsqueeze]

This is what DDs RB is starting to look like at it's best. Still a lot of work to do of course. She has gotten to the point where the speed is comparable to her other pitches, at first it was noticeably slower and it spins in the low 20 RPS (21-23 at its best). The spin is along the drawn line, kind of 1/3 bullet, 1/3 curve and 1/3 backspin. It has a noticeable tail into a LHB. My goal is to find out how far we are from releasing it for games. I like the way to comes into the bucket so I am ready to start working on locations and spin consistency as opposed to just speed and spin quality. Right now we do not work on locating it at all, just looking for any spin that has a backwards component.

Her fastball has a good little down and in natural tail so this up and away natural movement looks like it could be a nice compliment. I especially like the idea of being able to throw it low for a called strike on those pesky girls that ID her drop and low zone tendencies and start laying off anything low. .

 

[JJsqueeze]

and yes...I did just walk up and kick the beehive by resurrecting a riseball thread MUHUHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

And after sitting on a bucket and watching an embryonic riseball develop I have to say that I do not give a flying fangola if it breaks or not, I have seen that ball do some unexpected stuff with my girl throwing it with not so great spin at 50 mph so I can only imagine what it looks like at 65, I am sure it is a wonder to behold. I am now completely a believer in the Hillhouse three pitch repertoire.

 

[Classof2020]

JJ I watched from directly behind the backstop last night as a girl was throwing her riseball. Team coach who was catching for and evaluating it. Looked great. Nice trajectory we'll say to about the shoulders or neck of the batter. Then on one of them the coach said something like I really like where these are coming in even if they don't have a big rise or something along those lines. And the pitcher comes flying off the rubber and says "but don't you see how they are jumping up right at the end? right when they get to the plate they are popping up a few inches??!" The coach and I just stood there and listened to the crickets chirp. I was thinking who is her pitching coach Hal? because I can't believe she came up with that all on her own.

 

[Sweet Lou]

I was thinking who is her pitching coach Hal?

Was she throwing a bent finger rise? Cuz that's a game changer.

 

[JJsqueeze]

I hear ya. The thing I notice on the bucket is more akin to float than break. My mind automatically draws in a more gravity than there is but no "break" up. The outside tailing is real and noticeable though. now if she can throw It at the boobs or shoulders instead of the neighbors yard we will be on to something.

 

[JJsqueeze]

But back to my question. How does that spin stack up with real world riseballs? If she can get that consistently can we call it game ready?

 

[Classof2020]

Well I think that is about what my dds is doing too - when she gets more true back spin it ends up a lot slower, but when she has the rotation you are talking about it has better speed and good movement I think. Ken B has seen it and he thinks it's passable when it's coming in fast enough, etc. with that spin. She also showed it to another older very experienced coach who pitched himself and coaches i/r. He immediately liked it and said that is what we were looking for, he said it doesn't get much better than that, especially at this age. Let's get Ken to pipe in here!!