Low rise, bullet spin.
Does she need to cut under the ball more? Is the ball coming off the finger tips to much?
Does she need to cut under the ball more? Is the ball coming off the finger tips to much?
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Riseball - ball rotation axis
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Maybe they called it wrong and this a curve.
The rise works because all pitches have an arc. The hitter makes a discussion to swing because of the arc, they think the ball is coming down the middle.
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- Aug 21, 2008
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Gang, a rise is a rise. For anyone to have a legitimate rise, backspin is required. Yes, I know others will name pitchers who get many strikeouts on bulletspin riseballs and use that to defend bullet spin. I stand by saying, those pitchers mostly are in the 1% of velocity in pitchers throwing 70+. That is what is getting the strikeouts, not the bullet spin riseballs. A 70+ pitch that is thrown high will gain strikeouts in any level of college ball. So we have to be clear about what is getting the strikeouts, the movement or the velocity. I maintain it's the velocity. You don't see a lot of college pitchers who only throw 60mph with bullet spin that get a lot of strikeouts.
And because I have to be crystal clear so someone doesn't throw a fit... I'm not saying someone who throws 60 can't be successful. Groundballs and pop flies are outs, the same as K's. What I'm saying is you don't typically see someone with bad spin, who doesn't have tremendous velocity, getting a lot of K's.
A real riseball is very hard to do, backspin is really hard. A low rise is even harder. And to be clear, a low rise is a strike at the knees. Not belt high. A low rise is best when complimented by a great dropball. The pitcher throws drop, drop, drop, and then sneaks a low rise at the knees. It's a pitch that's meant to freeze the hitter and send them back to the dugout thinking "I should've swung and crushed that". But because the drop set up the pitch, it freezes them.
It would also behoove your catcher to have a pregame talk with the umpire, during 1st inning warm ups that this pitcher throws a great low rise at the knees. Maybe even have a signal that they tap the umpire's shoes or something when the low rise is coming. Why? Because umpires are human and they can be fooled by the pitch the same as batters. We all wish umpires were able to just focus on the pitch and call it as is. But they get fooled by things too. And the catcher puts it in the ump's head ahead of time that this pitch is part of the arsenal, you may get a strike or 2 that otherwise you might not. I'm not saying the catcher should make something obvious that ANYONE can see. But, catchers can make subtle moves that tell the umpire only that something is coming.
And because I have to be crystal clear so someone doesn't throw a fit... I'm not saying someone who throws 60 can't be successful. Groundballs and pop flies are outs, the same as K's. What I'm saying is you don't typically see someone with bad spin, who doesn't have tremendous velocity, getting a lot of K's.
A real riseball is very hard to do, backspin is really hard. A low rise is even harder. And to be clear, a low rise is a strike at the knees. Not belt high. A low rise is best when complimented by a great dropball. The pitcher throws drop, drop, drop, and then sneaks a low rise at the knees. It's a pitch that's meant to freeze the hitter and send them back to the dugout thinking "I should've swung and crushed that". But because the drop set up the pitch, it freezes them.
It would also behoove your catcher to have a pregame talk with the umpire, during 1st inning warm ups that this pitcher throws a great low rise at the knees. Maybe even have a signal that they tap the umpire's shoes or something when the low rise is coming. Why? Because umpires are human and they can be fooled by the pitch the same as batters. We all wish umpires were able to just focus on the pitch and call it as is. But they get fooled by things too. And the catcher puts it in the ump's head ahead of time that this pitch is part of the arsenal, you may get a strike or 2 that otherwise you might not. I'm not saying the catcher should make something obvious that ANYONE can see. But, catchers can make subtle moves that tell the umpire only that something is coming.
HillHouse
Do you have any video of good rise spin? I would like to see the hand/wrist positions through release.
Do you have any video of good rise spin? I would like to see the hand/wrist positions through release.
What would you consider the finer points on throwing a low rise?
Thanks Ken. The hand/wrist position is so the ball is cupped in the clip. Coming off the sides of the fingers.
In this case, the middle finger pulls up the front of the ball and the bent pointer finger snaps through and under the ball.
