R.I.S.E. stands for Revamp, Improve, Strengthen, Evolve and the new R.I.S.E. Training Ball. The guys at R.I.S.E. challenged me to try one for a review and, well, let's see how it did:
The R.I.S.E. Training Ball is the same size and feel but is slightly heavier than a regulation weight ball. The purpose of it is that while training with the R.I.S.E. ball, you'll get used to using the extra weight so when you go to using a regulation ball in a game it will feel lighter and give you snappier passes and shots.
Holding the ball in my hand when I took it out of the package, I could immediately feel the little bit of extra weight, but it didn't seem overly heavy. Everything else about it felt like a standard lacrosse ball. Putting it in my stick and cradling around with it, I felt like it was a bit heavier and had more feel for where the ball was in the head, which I actually liked a lot. When I started playing wall ball with it, I couldn't really feel any difference in using it. After about an hour of using it, I grabbed a regular Maverik ball and right away, it felt lighter and that ball was easier to throw quickly than usual. It felt like the R.I.S.E ball was working in just my short session messing around with it. You don't have to change your throwing mechanics but it will help you to increase the speed that you release the ball without any extra work then what you should already be doing, and without having to modify your stick at all. You just pick it up and throw.
Sine my trial, I've switched to using the R.I.S.E. Training Ball for wall ball and for my warmups before all of my games (I'm a box player in Buffalo, NY). I definitely recommend it, especially to players looking to increase their shot speed and have an overall quicker stick.
The R.I.S.E. Training Ball is available for $8 if you want to give one a try yourself. Let us know what you think on our Instagram post.