How To Hit The Riseball In Softball

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[@ericc8790]

Baseball coach says what? … a rise ball is in fact rising. This isn’t baseball. She isn’t pitching from an elevated position. She is releasing the ball below her hip and most rise balls are caught by the catcher well above their head. Do the math… the ball is ending up at a distance from the ground that is significantly greater than the original release point. You are correct about flattening the bat path slightly but still having a slightly upper cut swing. However, most well executed rise balls are nearly unhittable. The ones that are hit are because the pitcher made a mistake and left it too far in the zone. The best way to beat a good rise ball pitcher is plate discipline. The team as a whole has to cut the zone in half and only swing at balls down in the zone. You have to make her give up on her own best pitch and make her pound the zone with non rise ball pitches. It will take a few innings to do this, but it works.

[@traviscornish1886]

Agreed on all the above! Good post

[@francoisbouvier7861]

I caught fair to middlen pitchers. I had to cheat up big time on the better risers. Watching Jevny and the guy from Pennsylvania Sunners, those pitches moved up big time. Best approach? If it's a riser at the belt, leave it alone.

[@airassault189]

Thank you! A ball cannot rise, It's physics. I read a research paper one time that said even the best Rice balls still drop at 3° across the plate.

[@anthonyz5671]

Mmmmm IDK about that every pitch goes down. The majority do go down. But a really good pitcher her riseball is actually going to have a little jump to it. Its actually intended NOT to be a strike. Thats why the catcher is expecting it up. We had 2 pitchers on our team that threw awesome riseballs. Really jumped up before passing in the hitting zone. But if yiu dont throw very hard then yeah its going to go down. But great lesson.

[@EricMizner-fh1cb]

To say a rise ball also drops like every other ball is flat wrong. I’ve coached pitchers that have so much spin the ball literally takes off ( aerodynamic pressure lift) and moves opposite to gravity.

[@antonellisoftball]

I didn’t say it drops like every other ball. I said it isn’t actually moving up as long as it’s a strike. Do you have data that shows differently because I would love to see it (I’m being honest, not being a wise ass lol)

[@thurmanhendrix]

Matt, I struggle with this concept that the ball is always coming down through the zone in softball. Regardless of the pitch (and assuming the pitcher and batter are the same height)... if a softball pitcher releases the ball at roughly her lower thigh level and then the ball were to cross home plate at the hitter's waist... wouldn't the ball have had to work up?

[@thurmanhendrix]

With that being said, I think your swing plane advice is 100% accurate... a little more flat on the higher pitches.

[@antonellisoftball]

There are a lot of studies online and as far as I can see, gravity still pulls the ball down enough so it isn’t going up anymore.

[@bowl8265]

I have tries for years to convince coaches and players some of whom have been successful hitting other pitches that swinging down actually causes you to hit popups or weak ground balls. Maybe they will pay attention to this video.

[@antonellisoftball]

It can be a battle. I see some really bad swings that are very down through the ball, but still fight to change because they believe that’s how they need to swing to hit well, even though they aren’t hitting well

[@hayadaden7163]

I’m the first person 🎉❤

[@Nuwin]

Petition to rename this to just a high fastball. Listening to the debates on the word rise is exhausting and takes us away from how to either throw it or hit it correctly. The reality is both sides are right, they're just arguing different aspects. Egos get in the way and feelings get hurt. HA!