Junkballers

[_MIA_]

Talk to college recruiters and most will tell you pitchers may be calling it a rise ball, but 9 times out of ten, it's just a fastball thrown high with some backspin for flare. Very few pitchers get much movement out of the pitch.

In reality it’s the lack of movement (away from the path the pitch would take without gravity) which is what you want..humans (at least current ones..) cannot spin it well enough or throw it hard enough for the ball to rise above that gravity-free path.

With that in mind there is probably a sweet spot, in terms of effectiveness, regarding how much the spin looks like a fastball (the bigger the deviation the easier for the batter to recognize that it isn’t a fastball) and how much less it drops from said path compared to a fastball.

 

[uncdrew]

DD is there now. 16U, cruises between 53-56. When she misses on the plate, those balls are OTF.

Her teammate, meanwhile, throws about 5 mph slower and still ties hitters up in knots.


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Your daughter needs to pitch slower

 

[radness]

All pitchers should have junk pitch.
AKA~ offspeed spinny stuff.
Drop or Curve 3/4 speed will do nicely
... in addition to a changeup.

 

[3girls]

I always wonder about this. I've heard some college pitchers say they never throw a fastball and others say they throw it quite often. Sam Show said she threw it regularly and that many pitchers do. Osterman I believe, said she rarely, if ever threw one.

I would imagine if you have big time velo you are more likely to keep throwing fastballs in college. Say like a Barnhill or Abbot.

My daughter throws a fastball quite a bit in college and her velocity isn’t overpowering. Fastball is 61-63. The change of speed and location is the key for a good fastball. You should pitch 3 speeds and hit your spots. Fastball, an off speed drop or just slower fastball and a change.

Most pitchers will have movement pitches by HS. I see lots of screw & curves, but those with a rise ball do very well. Most kids don’t have a rise ball. Those with a good curve or screw also do well.