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

[@billhillhouse992]

#1 key is to keep the HANDS above the ball.

[@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.

[@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)

[@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.

[@billhillhouse992]

yea, leave it alone. IF people could do that, Ty Stofflet, Rod Jarvis and others would've never had a career.

[@francoisbouvier7861]

@@billhillhouse992 it most definitely isn't easy. The old adage, easier said than done. It's sad that the men's fastball has been abandoned.

[@billhillhouse992]

@@francoisbouvier7861 there’s a lot more out there remaining than you might realize. there’s still fastpitch leagues in the Reading area. There won’t be a Jeff Seip Ty Stofflet still men’s Fastpitch. And there is still world championships . And the best invitational tournament in the country is still in Pennsylvania, elk land, Pennsylvania

[@francoisbouvier7861]

@billhillhouse992 absolutely. The Kiwis are strong. Their defense is getting better, and pitching has been stellar for years. Unfortunately, Western Canada has fallen off the map. Victoria Bates always stood strong, Saskatoon Al-Amatics and a couple of teams out of Calgary. I don't think they are around. Jevny out of Camrose was one of Canada's best when in his prime. McWillie 6'6" from Saskatoon was intimidating. Down from the Major Men's guys like Hamilton, Stamp, and Sutherland (pitched in NZ for a time) were unhitable on the weekend circuit. The good old days. When you're nearly seventy, only memories.

[@francoisbouvier7861]

@billhillhouse992 but it looks so good..... until you need a ladder. Leave the riser, and then the drop makes you silly.

[@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

[@billhillhouse992]

I'm fairly certain that you won't read or respond to this but how about you step in the box and face a male pitcher riseball?? Top pitcher in the world throws 88 mph, starting at 46 feet but he can jump to release it closer. Factoring the difference, 88 in softball is about 115 in baseball. And someone who's never faced a riseball in his life is going to explain to the masses how it's done. Nice. I used to pitch for the US Men's National team, hit my riseball then make a video.

[@antonellisoftball]

This video wasn’t intended for men’s softball. It was meant for the girls that we train and what we see in girls softball. Im sure you were a great pitcher and 115 sounds quite difficult to hit. Would have loved to face you back in the day

[@billhillhouse992]

@@antonellisoftball Matt please know I’m not trying to troll or start a fight, that’s number one OK?! But you said something that makes me curious, are you implying that there is a difference between the way you would teach a male hitter and a female hitter? If so, why? I thought the experts were telling us these days that the baseball and softball swings are the same. Do you think that’s true? By the way, thank you for the kind compliment, but it’s never too late if you wanted. I’m not suggesting your first attempt at men’s Fastpitch be a tryout for the US national team, but there’s all kinds of levels and even aged divisions that you could give it a try! I guarantee you would add instant credibility to you in the softball circles, firsthand experience about hitting a rise ball. Believe it or not about 15 years ago or so Dante Bichette senior played a game or two of men’s Fastpitch in Orlando. I’m not sure if he’s filed a pitch off, but I don’t think so. Now in fairness to him, he had been retired from baseball for quite a while and I know he’s never seen pitching like that in his life, after the game, he was saying that he hit Home runs and seen Randy Johnson, roger Clemons, etc. but he’s never seen anything like what he saw in that batter box. lol. There is a big world of Fastpitch softball out there. I think your business should really tap into that market if you can.

[@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!