How to lay off the rise ball?

[Rocketech1]

Don't swing at any pitch above your belt. Look at all of those clips, these pitches are out of the strike zone.

 

[SBFAMILY]

We say above your hands.

 

[FiveFrameSwing]

You don't tell a hitter what NOT to do ..... you tell them WHAT to do ..... hence my first response in this thread.

 

[RubberBiscuit]

There is thought on moving up in the box to get it before it rises too much (relatively of course) and there is thought of moving to the very back of the box to allow more time to recognize it and not swing.

I am not a fan of either one of these as I think they are just "band-aid" approaches to riseballers and throws off the normal confidence of a batter even more. I truly think that the best approach to a true riseballer is a total mental preparedness alteration batters need to take. A batter has got to leave the home-run swing in the bag and get out there with a reactive-contact mentality driven by a "hands MUST stay on top" adjustment. If the riseballer has a drop too well then you are battling a top pitcher profile and be prepared to be a "contact" hitter at the plate. I believe it's so much easier to think riseball and adjust to drop versus the opposite (which is almost impossible)

 

[Greenmonsters]

There is thought on moving up in the box to get it before it rises too much (relatively of course) and there is thought of moving to the very back of the box to allow more time to recognize it and not swing.

I am not a fan of either one of these as I think they are just "band-aid" approaches to riseballers and throws off the normal confidence of a batter even more. I truly think that the best approach to a true riseballer is a total mental preparedness alteration batters need to take. A batter has got to leave the home-run swing in the bag and get out there with a reactive-contact mentality driven by a "hands MUST stay on top" adjustment. If the riseballer has a drop too well then you are battling a top pitcher profile and be prepared to be a "contact" hitter at the plate. I believe it's so much easier to think riseball and adjust to drop versus the opposite (which is almost impossible)

Definitely agree that moving up and back in the box really just serves to throw a hitter's standard perception and timing off and is a move of last resort. You can still be aggressive if you sit on one pitch or location until you have two strikes.

 

[Rocketech1]

You need to remember as has been shown numerous times with slo-mo video (e.g. Sarah Pauly pitching her riseball), about 15 to 20 feet before home plate, the riseball actually flattens out so moving up in the box is not a smart move since your reaction time to hit the ball is compromised. The other issue is you don't know what pitch is going to be thrown, if you are back in the box, she might throw a low riseball or drop ball.

I do agree with FFS on this one point, have a "swing, swing, no swing" attitude at the plate. If a pitch is in your "visual hitting window" as it approaches the plate then you should be in attack mode, not a defensive mode. If the pitch is not in that "window" (e.g. above the belt in my opinion) you pass on it. Obviously, it's easier said than done, especially with 2 strikes on the batter.