Arm whip

[LEsoftballdad]

It makes sense, actually. A bullet goes faster, straighter, and further because of the rifling of the barrel. A football is thrown much better when if has its version of bullet spin, otherwise it's what you would call a wounded duck.

 

[ArmWhip]

It makes sense, actually. A bullet goes faster, straighter, and further because of the rifling of the barrel. A football is thrown much better when if has its version of bullet spin, otherwise it's what you would call a wounded duck.

The bullet spin on a bullet keeps it aerodynamically stable, vs a musket, which basically shot knuckle balls. And if bullet spin made a pitch faster than why aren't MLB sliders faster than MLB fastballs? There's something missing here, somehow the underhand IR action allows bullet spin to be thrown faster than the overhand action. I posted some video of Jordy Bahl, but her top spin pitch is faster than her bullet spin, which is what makes sense to me, but some pitchers throw bullet in the upper 60's and even hit 70.

 

[LEsoftballdad]

The bullet spin on a bullet keeps it aerodynamically stable, vs a musket, which basically shot knuckle balls. And if bullet spin made a pitch faster than why aren't MLB sliders faster than MLB fastballs? There's something missing here, somehow the underhand IR action allows bullet spin to be thrown faster than the overhand action. I posted some video of Jordy Bahl, but her top spin pitch is faster than her bullet spin, which is what makes sense to me, but some pitchers throw bullet in the upper 60's and even hit 70.

But a well-thrown slider doesn't have pure bullet spin. When they do, they call it a cement mixer, and they tend to go a long way due to them not breaking.

 

[Hillhouse]

Actually it doesn't, I want to understand how these pitchers throw bullet spin with the velocity that they do. At about 50 seconds into this WCWS game you can see Jordy Bahl throwing a bullet spin pitch. I'm not interested in whether she was taught this pitch or learned it on her own, I want to know how she does it mechanically.

Well then I'm back to square one where I said I think this is something to do with video, tv, or something. Kind of like how wheels on cars always look like they're going backwards. As some of you are aware, I know Jordy. I've been in the cage with Jordy. I've caught Jordy. Nothing that she threw had bullet spin. While her rise wasn't 12/6 spin (nobody's is perfect) it was as close to straight up/down as I've ever seen from a female. And to be 100% crystal clear, I'm not saying males can do it perfectly either. In fact, most do not. But the world's best pitchers, males and females, all have as close to perfect backspin as possible, without it it being perfect. The majority of guys who's spin isn't good will typically have more curveball like spin, not bullet. There are a lot more women who throw bullet spin pitches (usually riseballs) than men. In fact, I think Jordy's spin was better than Abbott's or Osterman's.

There's a lot I know about Jordy that I will not say publicly. But I will tell you guys that after getting to Oklahoma, they did want her to throw "screwballs" and more curveballs despite the fact they recruited a pitcher who throws rise, drop and change only.

Was this video from Jordy's Freshman season or Sophomore?

 

[Hillhouse]

Actually it doesn't, I want to understand how these pitchers throw bullet spin with the velocity that they do. At about 50 seconds into this WCWS game you can see Jordy Bahl throwing a bullet spin pitch. I'm not interested in whether she was taught this pitch or learned it on her own, I want to know how she does it mechanically.

I think some of it comes down to the simple fact that God decides who's going to throw hard and who isn't. That's why you can have 2 pitchers with the same body type, same coach, same wind-up, the same EVERYTHING. But one of them can throw gas, the other cannot. There's no other rationale explanation for why one kid can throw 70 and another can only throw 50 mph.

But I will go to my grave saying this: no matter how fast someone is throwing with bullet spin, they would be faster without it. Bullet spin requires the wrist to turn, if the wrist turns there's no possible way that someone is getting the maximum arm whip possible. The wrist will automatically follow the elbow's whip unless someone intentionally stops it from doing so.

 

[RADcatcher]

Some super slow mo replay video to take a look at

 

[Hillhouse]

Some super slow mo replay video to take a look at

That single pic spoke volumes. You can see her turning her wrist at the release. The only way to get backspin is to not point your thumb at the catcher.

 

[ArmWhip]

But I will go to my grave saying this: no matter how fast someone is throwing with bullet spin, they would be faster without it.

I agree with this but I think there might be exceptions. In general most pitchers that I see in the WCWS seem to throw bullet spin that is about 2-3 mph slower than their topspin. This is a much smaller difference than what you see in MLB between the slider and the fastball. So I think there is something about the fastpitch motion that allows or creates some extra velocity, and this mechanical action is not available in the overhand throwing motion.

 

[SETPRO]

From the "I could not resist" department.

Found this particularly interesting:

My DD throws a bullet spin pitch that she just started throwing on her own (she called it her 360 special) playing around when she first started pitching. She thought she had invented a new pitch. It has always been faster than her fastball, by 1-2 mph. Just enough to be noticeable if you are catching. Which always seemed weird to me, because there is no way I can throw bullet spin overhead with more velocity than a normal fastball spin.

Here's my "hypothesis":

Without seeing lostcreek1 daughters throwing video in the difference between how she throws her fastball versus her "360 degrees special" there's a possibility that what she's doing is some form of internal rotation when she throws the 360 special. I say this because it would account for both bullet spin and increased in ball speed.

Also I think it's quite easy to "conceptually throw" a bullet spin (also known an overhand baseball as a "Gyro Ball") with IR mechanics. The internal rotation of the shoulder with some wrist hand positioning lend itself quite nicely to a "raking over the ball action" generating a bullet/Gyro ball.



Enjoy!.

 

[ArmWhip]

"raking over the ball action" generating a bullet/Gyro ball.

In fastpitch bullet spin is generated the other way, fingers sliding under the ball at release.