Patent 9,750,986
A regular softball will not rise until it is spinning 20 to 25 times a second at better than 55 mph. Most pitchers never get there in practice, so they never feel what a rise ball is. This one lifts at 10 revolutions and 30 mph.
Why it lifts
A softball rises on three things: how fast it is spinning, which way it is spinning, and how fast the pitch is travelling. The wings mean the ball needs far less of the first and the third, so a pitcher can practise the part she can actually control.
A regular softball
20-25rev / sec
55+mph minimum
needs to be thrown this hard before it will lift at all
An EZ-Riseball
10rev / sec
30mph minimum
lifts here, which is inside what a developing pitcher can already throw
What you can buy
Both balls teach the rise and the drop. The difference is weight: one is built so a young arm can see lift, the other is close enough to regulation that what you learn carries straight into a game.
3 oz, half a regulation softball
Built to lift with backspin at around 30 mph. Light enough that a pitcher who cannot yet throw hard still sees the ball climb, which is the whole point: learn the spin first, add the velocity after.
Where to start
8 oz, close to regulation weight
Close enough to a real softball to feel like one, with a two colour stripe that makes four seam rotation readable in the air. This is the ball for studying how a pitch actually moves rather than whether it moves.
How a rise ball rises
One Beginner and one Advance
The pair the site calls the complete pitcher package. Learn the release on the light ball, then carry the same motion across to the heavier one and watch what the stripe does.
See the packages
Five, eight and ten ball sets
Enough balls for a bullpen rather than one pitcher, in mixed sets of Beginner and Advance. The five, eight and ten ball sets are how a staff gets every arm working on spin in the same session.
Counts and pricesNo coach needed
The instruction is free and it is the same material a pitching coach would give you, written out in the order you need it. The ball supplies the feedback a coach would otherwise have to supply by eye.
Fingers into the grooves, spin the wings on the release. Index and middle parallel to the seams, middle finger on the seam, thumb and index forming a C.
The release cue the whole site is built around, with the long step that sets it up. It trains the fingers, hand and wrist directly, which is why the release point comes in hours.
Wrist back through the approach, inside of the wrist toward the catcher, elbow close to the body, fingers up and over with pressure from index and middle on top.
Real talk from the field
“This is a great tool to work with finger's dexterity and to train fingers to create lots of spinning. Team loves it, my daughter loves it.”
“My daughter added 3 inches of rise in just two weeks. Total game-changer.”
Coach Lindsey M.
“The EZRiseBall changed the way we teach the rise. Visual, simple, and effective.”
Coach Jessica T., Travel Ball Instructor
“My spin rate and riseball break improved in just a week.”
Madison P., Travel Ball Pitcher
“It's helped me stay behind the ball longer, and my curveball and riseball are breaking more.”
Lindsey G., High School Pitcher
The quotes above are published by EZ-Riseball on its own site. The review on the left is a dated verified purchase from Amazon.
Before you order
Pick the ball that fits the pitcher, or ring Billie and say how old she is and how long she has been pitching. Returns within fifteen days, unused and unopened.