Posted by: Major Dan (markj89@charter.net) on Fri Jun 22 06:19:22 2001

> That was the best explanation in this thread Major Dan. Any of you who
> > have ever seen an upper level mens fastpitch pitcher will have no
> > doubt in their minds that a ball can rise due to trajectory, speed,
> > and backspin. There are/were also many pitchers who could throw the
> > low rise that looked like it was coming in below your knee and in the
> > last 5-8 feet before the plate it jumped into the strike zone. I have
> > seen girls that could throw this type of pitch albeit less
> > consistently but in all cases they had to alreadt posess the speed
> > along with the backspin mechanics to achieve it. A little breeze
> > blowi
>
> Steve,
>
> Once you've seen it, you have a hard time reconciling what you have seen with those who claim science says it can't rise. Maybe it doesn't rise, but those who are smug about it reveal the level of pitching they have been privileged to watch. Obviously you have seen very good pitching. Getting to sit on a bucket and catch a decent rise is a whole lot of fun. Once again, does it rise? It sure does something real strange.
>
> Mark

We are all conditioned from a lifetime of experience to NOT SEEING the ball's drop due to gravity. A 100 MPH fastball drops 2.6 feet due to gravity in the 60 feet it is thrown. We don't 'see it' because it always happens and we've already compensated for it. It is not novel, it is a given. Any counteracting of this by backspin creates the illusion of upward movement. It IS upward - upward of the expected drop from gravity (seems to rise) but not upward from the line of flight (it doesn't really rise).
Still messes up your expectations of where the pitch should end up (effective pitch)