The primary breaking pitches in fastpitch softball are the drop ball,
rise ball, curveball and screwball. Breaking pitches are accomplished
by spinning the ball at the correct angle to get an air pressure difference
causing the ball to move from the high pressure side toward the low
pressure side. The grips used are many and varied. You should experiment
with grips until you have one that imparts the most spin at the best
angle.
I have come across pitchers that say they have 4 or more breaking pitches.
When watching them pitch, I've seen the ball always rotate in the same
direction at the same angle. The pitcher was using a different grip
for each pitch and therefore thought she was throwing various breaking
pitches when, in reality, none of her pitches were breaking.
After the ball leaves the pitchers hand, the only thing that has an
impact on ball movement is the number of rotations, the direction of
the rotation and the angle of rotation.
|
The angle of the ball rotation has a large impact on the amount
of movement you will get. The best angle is 90° as shown in
the "perfect angle for a riseball".
If you can achieve the perfect angle, you can expect about 1"
(inch) of movement for every rotation. For example, 4 rotations
will result in a 4" rise, 5 rotations equal 5 inches, etc.
|
Perfect angle for a riseball
as seen by the catcher |
| The worst angle
is 0° or the bullet spin. There is NO movement in any direction
with the bullet spin regardless of the number of rotations. This
angle of spin results in the easiest pitches for the batter to hit. |
Bullet Spin |
| For most of
the breaking pitches, it is almost impossible to achieve the perfect
90° angle. Typically, you can achieve a 70° or 80° angle
which is good. The further from 90° you get, the less movement
you get so pay close attention to the angle when developing
the pitch. The amount of ball movement is reduced by the cosine
of the angle. |
Typical Riseball
as seen by the catcher |
The following table shows that you lose 1/2 of your movement when your
angle is about 1/3 off from 90 degrees. You lose 70% of your movement
when your angle is half way between the perfect spin and the bullet spin.
Pay attention to angle.
| Rotation Angle |
Cosine Loss |
Potential Movement |
| 90° |
Almost 0 |
7" (full movement) |
| 80° |
0.173648178 |
5.8" |
| 70° |
0.342020143 |
4.6" |
| 60° |
0.5 |
3.5" (losing 1/2 the movement) |
| 50° |
0.64278761 |
2.5" |
45°
(1/2 way between 0° and 90°) |
0.707106781 |
2.05" |
