Educate me about the riseball

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May 7, 2008
174
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a 60 mph pitch is going roughly 87 ft per second. or roughly .5 second from mound to plate. in .5 second gravity causes a ball to drop .5 * 32*(.5)^2 ( d= 1/2 g t^2 physics 101) or about 4 feet. Yeppers a pitch with no upward velocity at release will hit the ground. So EVERY pitch has some upward velocity at release. drops less, fast some, rise more. Now spin adds a new force to the equation and spin can move a pitch form its otherwise as thrown plus gravity path. The data I have seen in studies suggest ( by plotting the path of the ball for the first 20 feet than projecting where it would be with no spin that rise ball good pitchers can spin the ball up 2- 10 inches. AND MOSt are 2-6" This data was taken I believe from DI final 8 pitchers.

Now a poor batter has to starting getting on the plane of the pitch 20 feet out. All the pitch needs to do is move 2-1/4" and its a wiff. 1" and its a easy pop fly. If they guess right its a home run cause a rise in the strike zone is dead in the power wheelhouse, as another commentator noted

There was an argument about 20 years ago if you could spin a ball enough to really overcome gravity- You can't with spin alone. it was some ridiculous RPM in three digits. But with some upward RAMP and some good spin and a good drop u can make batters lives miserable. A threat of a rise makes most batters have to make decisions ( just like changing speeds does) and most batters making decisions spend a lot of time walking back to the dugout!
 
Apr 28, 2014
2,316
113
We had our whole org together yesterday for practice. Someone had a radar system set up and all of the girls were using it. We have 6-7 girls in the org throwing 60-67. I was watching them throw the rise and my non scientific opinion was that no rise worked under 58 miles per hour. Over 60 and they were magic. DD was throwing 55 when she started to throw the rise and little did we know back then but it was a waste.
 
May 30, 2013
1,442
83
Binghamton, NY
I was watching them throw the rise and my non scientific opinion was that no rise worked under 58 miles per hour. Over 60 and they were magic. DD was throwing 55 when she started to throw the rise and little did we know back then but it was a waste.

Disagree!

If the "rise" is truly spinning backwards at, or very close to, 12-6 axis - then it is "magic" even at sub-60mph.
I've personally witnessed low-50s legit riseballs that are VERY effective.

Of course, true rise axis is a rarity, and I think part of the cause of that is most pitchers who already throw other pitches in the 60s aren't willing to take the (temporary) speed hit by learning the rise. So what do they do? They throw quasi-curve ball spin (we call it "big dot") (this is Rachel Garcia) or they throw straight-up bullet spin (we call this "small dot") high in the zone -and call it a "riseball" (and so do the TV commentators...).
 
Last edited:
Aug 21, 2008
2,359
113
We had our whole org together yesterday for practice. Someone had a radar system set up and all of the girls were using it. We have 6-7 girls in the org throwing 60-67. I was watching them throw the rise and my non scientific opinion was that no rise worked under 58 miles per hour. Over 60 and they were magic. DD was throwing 55 when she started to throw the rise and little did we know back then but it was a waste.

I disagree too. I throw riseballs in BP all the time, not throwing 60 (or 58).

Bill
 
Mar 20, 2015
174
28
Is this off speed rise an effective pitch in the game? Or is it better to zip a bullet spin fastball that will probably have less total drop high in the zone? I'm asking because I don't know the answer, but the amount of added gravity drop induced by losing just 1 mph is significant.
 
Feb 18, 2014
348
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A rise ball is a combination of speed and correct rotation, more rotation you can get away will less speed and more speed needs less rotation.
It's science, not the magic that seems to occur with 10u riseball pitchers.
We see very few true riseball pitchers, and a lot of high fastballs called riseballs.
 

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