How to hit a rise ball?

Welcome to Discuss Fastpitch

Your FREE Account is waiting to the Best Softball Community on the Web.

SB45

Dad, Coach, Chauffeur
Sep 2, 2016
150
28
Western NY
The biggest advice I give here is lots of girls throw rise balls but very few actually throw a rise ball. A true rise ball has the spin to have the ball move upward the last 5 ft to the plate. The majority throw a high fast ball that moves upward.

The key is a true rise ball starts mid zone and rises to shoulders/head at the end.

Majority of rise ball pitchers have a pitch that starts high in the zone and finishes around the head.

Advice I tell girls is to take a few to determine the strike zone (80%+ of the non-true riseball pitchers) have the pitch called a ball. I have had high success against these pitchers as they tend to walk girls and get more frustrated that we are not chasing the pitch. The tendency is to then be behind in the count and forced to throw more pitches in the zone and those usually are hittable.

Now a true rise ball pitcher, best advice is first take a few and see if they are called strikes. They tend to have more strikes called as their ball is in the zone longer. If that is the case, have your girls up in the box as this is the best chance they will have to hit the ball. It will be tough and the batter has to be good.
Somehow I stumbled onto Discuss Whiffle Ball
 
Apr 20, 2015
961
93
Lol - no. Another poster said that his daughter, who plays on Texas Glory - 06 Midwest saw a riser too.

What's funny is that my daughter was the pitcher on the Texas Glory team that played against the Birmingham Thunderbolts for whom the pitcher we're discussing plays for. I will say I was proud of my daughter's pitching against them even though they lost 2-1.
Ah...gotcha! Now I get it...lol

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk
 
Apr 28, 2014
2,316
113
Probably not a rise and hard to tell unless you saw the spin. That said I tell my kid to not swing at a rise. Easier said than done. But she tries to have an approach at the plate. Most good rise ball pitchers use a change up to get swings and misses. I tell my DD to turn off the swings at anything other than a change up. If the pitcher gets you on three rise balls in the zone then good for her. She won that battle.
 
Jul 16, 2019
7
3
Didn't clock her but she's on the #1 team nationally in USSSA Power Rankings. I coached 1st base and watched it with my eyes.
Hey there! I stumbled across this thread by accident. I wanted to jump in and say THANK YOU for your compliments regarding my daughter, Lexi, and her riseball and while I was tending to a large charity event that day for work in Nashville (and missed these games), she did have one heck of a day. She does throw a legit riseball and not a high fastball, although I do agree that most pitchers who claim to have one are throwing high FBs. She trains with Jonathan Hon in Chicago and also Abby Tincher in Alabama -- all under the Tincher Pitching program. She has a drill sequence for her riseball and screwball (and all her mechanics) that is extremely disciplined and exploits a female body's strengths---also helping us to identify when something is off -- we go back to a drill or fix a certain mechanic. Her RB is her most difficult pitch and honestly frustrates the crap out of us during training, but when it is on, it's definitely on. As a former player, I agree w/ the one dad that focusing on the top half of the ball is a great start -- however, in Tincher, their arm/release is different. It creates a nasty natural movement that is very difficult to hit - so combine that w/ the rise & it's spin, sometimes it cuts in or out and you just can't hit it. Someone once said it's like her ball "disappears" at the plate and that was the best compliment we could hear. Anyway -- 2-1 score is a GREAT SHOWING against her and her tough bolts squad. Y'all must be amazing and I wish I could have been there! God bless and again thank you! I'll share this w/ Lexi one day when she's exhausted and trying to find a place to keep on working hard! Also, yes, she's a deaf athlete with bilateral cochlear implants! thanks for the Songs for Sound shout out! It's what has helped to make her resilient to the pressures on that mound!
 
May 12, 2016
4,338
113
Hey there! I stumbled across this thread by accident. I wanted to jump in and say THANK YOU for your compliments regarding my daughter, Lexi, and her riseball and while I was tending to a large charity event that day for work in Nashville (and missed these games), she did have one heck of a day. She does throw a legit riseball and not a high fastball, although I do agree that most pitchers who claim to have one are throwing high FBs. She trains with Jonathan Hon in Chicago and also Abby Tincher in Alabama -- all under the Tincher Pitching program. She has a drill sequence for her riseball and screwball (and all her mechanics) that is extremely disciplined and exploits a female body's strengths---also helping us to identify when something is off -- we go back to a drill or fix a certain mechanic. Her RB is her most difficult pitch and honestly frustrates the crap out of us during training, but when it is on, it's definitely on. As a former player, I agree w/ the one dad that focusing on the top half of the ball is a great start -- however, in Tincher, their arm/release is different. It creates a nasty natural movement that is very difficult to hit - so combine that w/ the rise & it's spin, sometimes it cuts in or out and you just can't hit it. Someone once said it's like her ball "disappears" at the plate and that was the best compliment we could hear. Anyway -- 2-1 score is a GREAT SHOWING against her and her tough bolts squad. Y'all must be amazing and I wish I could have been there! God bless and again thank you! I'll share this w/ Lexi one day when she's exhausted and trying to find a place to keep on working hard! Also, yes, she's a deaf athlete with bilateral cochlear implants! thanks for the Songs for Sound shout out! It's what has helped to make her resilient to the pressures on that mound!
Congrats, you must very proud of your DD. We will stay north of the border and pray to god we never face your DD, lol. My DD personally hates rise balls... like most hitters. Unfortunately for her she hits the high fast ball really well, so when the rise ball is up in the zone she will chase it.. and strike out, :). Her coach is a converted hardball coach who doesn't truly understand what a rise ball is. He told my DD she was a rise ball hitter.. LOL, that made me want to bang my head. IMO nobody hits the rise ball hard consistently.
 
Jul 16, 2019
7
3
Congrats, you must very proud of your DD. We will stay north of the border and pray to god we never face your DD, lol. My DD personally hates rise balls... like most hitters. Unfortunately for her she hits the high fast ball really well, so when the rise ball is up in the zone she will chase it.. and strike out, :). Her coach is a converted hardball coach who doesn't truly understand what a rise ball is. He told my DD she was a rise ball hitter.. LOL, that made me want to bang my head. IMO nobody hits the rise ball hard consistently.
OH yes.... baseball coaches and those pitching angles. :):) A lot of girls love that high pitch, but when they get to 43', it can be a little easier to adjust until the speeds pick back up again at 16U.
 
May 12, 2016
4,338
113
OH yes.... baseball coaches and those pitching angles. :):) A lot of girls love that high pitch, but when they get to 43', it can be a little easier to adjust until the speeds pick back up again at 16U.
LOL

In Canada, pitching distances are 38' at U14 and 40' at U16 which explains why our hitters are so out front of most pitching when play tournaments in the States. Of course our pitchers have to adapt to the increased pitching distances as well, :). Again she likes the high fastball, but totally whiffs on the high rise, :)
 
May 14, 2015
493
43
Bismarck ND
DD works on hitting the rise, in the cage, via front toss. I stand a little further back than normal and bounce the rubber cage balls off the ground a few yards in front of her. you can still throw it hard. Gives them quite a visual of a rise ball lol
 

Forum statistics

Threads
42,830
Messages
679,475
Members
21,445
Latest member
Bmac81802
Top