Teaching the bent-fingered rise and the up-and-in

[Nunthia1914]

what about Adam Folkard? Does he lean to the right when he throws his unhitable rise?

 

[halskinner]

you don't need spin to make a rise go up. Havn't you ever heard of a New Zealand rise where the finger tip is on te ball and on the release you push with the index finger and open up the hand with a push. The ball will float up and is very hard to hit.

Have you seen the grips in the 'Sticky' section of this forum? There are several photos, some from grips used back in 1966.

 

[halskinner]

People are talking about a cutter. When I brought up the cutter months ago, promoters of open mechanics jumped all over me saying there was no such thing in fastpitch. They were correct to an extent, you cannot thropw a true cutter with open mechanics because you cannot cut you hand through your own mid section.

I introduced the bent finger riseball on this forum and those same folks were all over again saying pressure on the ball with tyhe middle finger could not possibly increasse spin and movement.

I you read the description of the cutter in the cutter thread, sure sounds alot like the instructions for the bent fingered rise, as several people have pointed out.

Any way, the best you will get from that grip with open mechanics is a down and in. You cannot throw a truer cutter with, it cannot be done because of the release point required, in front of the front hip.

Maybe this will help some.

hal

 

[crystlemc]

Hal, my DD does throw a cutter that breaks down and in. She can also make it down and out. And her release point doesn't change from pitch to pitch.

 

[halskinner]

Hi Crystal,

A true cutter will come in straight and flat and fast, like the infamous fastball. RH pitcher to RH batter, it will break HARD and flat to the inside, I have seen many pitchers taught that a down and in was a cutter, or at least their instructor called it a cutter. A down and in to me has always been called a screwball but people will give the same movement pitch different names.

A tyrue cutter, when thrown correctly, breaks so hard, so fast and so much it is plainly put, a very dangerous pitch that can cause serious injuries to the batter.

In all my years, I have only taught this to 5 or 6 students that were exceptional. They found out soon what I was talking about and hadf to use great discretion as to when they would use it.

 

[halskinner]

With the 'Football drill' thread getting into different riseballs, thought I would bring this one back up.