Does the riseball really rise???

[Simo]

Hi Mark:

Were you a member of the old Forum? Yes you are right, the conversations are almost verbatim. The questions and even the answers may be the same, but it is great that this is available to a new generation of softballers who are trying to be the best they can be, as parents, coaches, and players. It has been a long time coming.

Regards,

Chris

 

[Mark H]

Yes I was and yes to the rest of your post as well. You?

 

[sixtysomething]

If Eddy Feiger and Ray Judd didn't throw a rise ball I don't know what it was. Same with the big lefty Pete Landers.
These guys were almost unhitable in their prime...and that was when it was one step and throw. Not this hop skip and a jump we see now.

 

[Mark H]

Yeah I really want the riseball to be doing what it looks like it's doing but no one seems to be able to catch it on video for proof.

 

[bigdaddy]

...and never will!

 

[softballfan94]

Re: Riseball Rising

I don't know if my math is good enough to prove one way or the other but when I was in the stands at the WCWS in OKC a couple weeks ago that pitcher from LA Lafeyette was throwing some nasty kind of rising pitch that looked like it almost stopped in mid flight - stepped up a few inches and then continued to the catcher. I didn't see too many batters hit it either.
It was fun to watch and I'm not a Cagun fan either...

 

[slider201]

Seems to be a question of semantics.

Does a rise ball rise:

• It does rise (negatively - a math term) because it was pitched upwards.
• It does not rise on its own, by itself, given any humanly possible spin or technique.

Now, if Rick will have Sarah pitch into the leading edge of an Arizona dust devil...

 

[Rick Pauly]

Riseball

I am willing to make an outlandish offer that I have made before but still no one has taken me up on;
I will buy a six pack of your favorite beer for the person that posts a side profile view of a riseball thrown by a person, male or female, that actually rises (increases its originally thrown angle).
If this doesn't motivate you then let me know what would.

 

[Teacher]

Rick, Awsome challenge,I was at an Olympic pitching clinic when one of our Gold Metal Pitchers showed high speed footage of rise balls and they dont rise.Everything is based on shoulder and hip angles.The ball stayed on the same plane as the legs, shoulders and hips to the catchers glove.

 

[Rick Pauly]

Not certain it matters which riseball is being thrown.
What matters relative to the performance of this pitch is:

1. Release Angle
2. Release Point
3. Speed
4. Direction of ball rotation
5. Spin rate
6. Seam orientation

There are a zillion different grips used for the riseball. At one time I was convinced that the "mens tucked finger grip" was the absolute best relative to spin rate. I am no longer so certain of this since experimenting with various other grips and measuring their spin rates. I have three variations of typical female grips that produce spin rates similar to my old tucked finger grip.

For everyones benefit here are acceptable spin rates in revolutions per second (RPS) for a riseball:
22-22 RPS------ok high school age
24-26 RPS------good high school age
27+-------------good college
30+-------------elite level

Rick