14U DD started working on a riseball back in December.
It's a challenging and frustrating process - throwing a ball forward, with an underhand motion, and spin the ball backwards.
not easy.
She has stayed with it, consistently, these past months, always making it part of our throwing sessions, even if just for 5-10min.
With a focus upon spin rather than location and/or velocity, she recently got to where she could spin it correctly on 90% of her throws.
In the process she, herself, learned to see and recognize the spin, and refused to settle for anything less than backspin, to the point of utter stubbornness.
(you sure see quite a lot of small-dot or large-dot bullet-spin "riseballs" out there these days...)
But because she still lacked the ability to locate it as well as other pitches, or throw it as hard;
she has been reluctant, or better yet, downright refused to throw it to a live batter in a game.
Then, we had a clinic with her PC this past Thursday, and something magical happened.
He hadn't seen her in several months as she's been busy with school (JV) ball and then travel ball immediately afterward.
I've communicated to him during this long interim that she has learned the proper spin with 90% success, but I don't think he entirely believed me.
When we started working the rise in this last session, after she threw a few, he just sort of gave me this "look"...
and then started asking DD why the hell not isn't she using this pitch in games.
After MUCH prodding and encouragement by PC, the session really gave DD the confidence boost that i think she needed to go for it, and next day in the tournament she told coach to call the pitch and she would "do her best".
Long story short, she experienced immediate success with it, and I watched with such pride, how as the weekend progressed, she grew more and more confident in the pitch, to the point where she would throw it on 3-ball counts, runners on 3b, etc. It all just seemed to click at once, after 6 months of trepidation and unsureness. Was really a magical moment, and even the location got better and better as she went. Watching a truly back-spinning ball float in for a strike at the knees is really something to behold. She threw the rise up in the zone also, but those "low rises" were the ones that impressed. Typically froze the batter into just taking the called strike.
Now to be clear, although she did get a few K's, a first year 14U throwing a 50mph riseball to good 16U teams in a major tournament, she did not rack up strikeouts with the pitch; BUT she "pitched to contact" with a Drop (55), Rise (50), and Change (45) combination; and the rise wasn't hit hard for a base hit once in about 10 innings of work across 3 games. LOTS of pop ups and fly ball outs.
Also, what also became apparent this week, is that a PC is (or can be, if you are lucky...) so much more than a "skills instructor".
He/She is also:
supporter
soothsayer
mentor
disciplinarian
fan
friend
It's a challenging and frustrating process - throwing a ball forward, with an underhand motion, and spin the ball backwards.
not easy.
She has stayed with it, consistently, these past months, always making it part of our throwing sessions, even if just for 5-10min.
With a focus upon spin rather than location and/or velocity, she recently got to where she could spin it correctly on 90% of her throws.
In the process she, herself, learned to see and recognize the spin, and refused to settle for anything less than backspin, to the point of utter stubbornness.
(you sure see quite a lot of small-dot or large-dot bullet-spin "riseballs" out there these days...)
But because she still lacked the ability to locate it as well as other pitches, or throw it as hard;
she has been reluctant, or better yet, downright refused to throw it to a live batter in a game.
Then, we had a clinic with her PC this past Thursday, and something magical happened.
He hadn't seen her in several months as she's been busy with school (JV) ball and then travel ball immediately afterward.
I've communicated to him during this long interim that she has learned the proper spin with 90% success, but I don't think he entirely believed me.
When we started working the rise in this last session, after she threw a few, he just sort of gave me this "look"...
and then started asking DD why the hell not isn't she using this pitch in games.
After MUCH prodding and encouragement by PC, the session really gave DD the confidence boost that i think she needed to go for it, and next day in the tournament she told coach to call the pitch and she would "do her best".
Long story short, she experienced immediate success with it, and I watched with such pride, how as the weekend progressed, she grew more and more confident in the pitch, to the point where she would throw it on 3-ball counts, runners on 3b, etc. It all just seemed to click at once, after 6 months of trepidation and unsureness. Was really a magical moment, and even the location got better and better as she went. Watching a truly back-spinning ball float in for a strike at the knees is really something to behold. She threw the rise up in the zone also, but those "low rises" were the ones that impressed. Typically froze the batter into just taking the called strike.
Now to be clear, although she did get a few K's, a first year 14U throwing a 50mph riseball to good 16U teams in a major tournament, she did not rack up strikeouts with the pitch; BUT she "pitched to contact" with a Drop (55), Rise (50), and Change (45) combination; and the rise wasn't hit hard for a base hit once in about 10 innings of work across 3 games. LOTS of pop ups and fly ball outs.
Also, what also became apparent this week, is that a PC is (or can be, if you are lucky...) so much more than a "skills instructor".
He/She is also:
supporter
soothsayer
mentor
disciplinarian
fan
friend
