against moving 14 YOs to 43 feet

[starsnuffer]

ASA not passing it works for me. I only coach 12u but we play up in 14u often enough where that would have been a pain in the keister for us. Just this weekend we had a tournament where I couldn't figure out why my girls couldn't seem to find the strike zone until I took another look and realized the grounds crew forgot to reset the pitching rubber after a 16u game.

-W

 

[WinThemAll]

Our grounds crew is just gonna love this! We use jox boxes on our fields. Our complex hosts ASA, USSSA and NSA using eight fields. It's going to be interesting to see how tournament directors schedule diamonds and make it so our overworked grounds crew doesn't lose their minds. ;-)

 

[starsnuffer]

Yes, the ASA folks have come back from national and are going to regional meetings, if I have the hearsay correct.

I heard many said it was not safety, but worry that 12s in 14u can't throw 43 feet. That's silly because that inherently says that true 14s should play down to a lower level (while elsewhere they can play up in their own group). Perhaps (rhetorically) they want 14s to go up to 16.

It is also a result of pitching and non-pitching coaches not teaching velocity and proper leg mechanics, but having the young girls groove the ball over the plate.

If the 12 can't throw it at least 43 feet than she should not go into a game.

Just my second or third rant about this issue.

So basically you had a bunch of pickled old men who never pitched in their lives declaring themselves experts (this includes most pitching coaches) on the subject. Gotta love "organizations"!

-W

 

[crystlemc]

Even our local rec league voted to go 43' for 14u in 2011.

 

[Quake Softball]

Personally, I want to have 14U stay at 40'. The kids are still young at that point. Moving to 43' will turn games into 3-4 inning games at tournaments. More runs scored will eat up the time limit.

 

[StacieM]

I don't see what the rush is about, but it's not so much age that is the concern as ability. Thing is, like others are saying, there are a lot of 13-14 year olds pitching at 43' because they are playing 16U/18U or JV/Varsity softball.

My DD had to pitch this JV season because our #2 got taken out with a back injury. She hadn't pitched since last summer (2009), much less at 43' but had to do it as a 13yo playing JV softball and she's tiny...seriously, there are 10-12yo bigger than her. My 11yo is just about the same size as her.

She just turned 14 and I don't expect her to pitch too much, but she has been practicing with her team in case they need her and is doing so at 43' for 18U winter league.

She didn't play 14U since I kept her down in 12U last year, but she played 16/18U this year (2010).

Seems that most girls playing 14U are either under that age of 14, maybe only 12 and/or an inexperienced 14yo? So in that sense, I wouldn't want my 12yo pitching at 43' because she was playing up. KWIM? So, to me, 14yo pitching at 43' isn't a big deal, but a 12yo being asked to throw from 43' because she's playing up isn't ideal. IMHO

So on one hand, I don't see what the big deal is if 14yo are pitching at 43' because a bunch are doing it anyway.

 

[Rick Pauly]

If a pitcher is not physically ready to throw with good mechanics from 43 feet then I believe it is detrimental to push the distance back. New/beginning pitchers will find a way to get the ball to the plate from 43 feet but it is often from compromising sound/safe pitching mechanics. They tend to use a lot of "body english" which in the long run will negatively affect their performance. They will build in some bad muscle memory that will be extremely difficult to change at a later date.
I have a bigger heart ache with moving young pitchers from 35 ft. up to 40 ft.------'cause at the same time they increase the ball size from 11" to 12". The combination of these two increases can be very harmful.
I know many parents want their kids to pitch with the "big girls" but I just want to throw out my words of caution. Remember, patience is a virtue.

 

[NVfishing]

My 14 yr old DD (play at 40) played against a 16U team in tourney last year. She had five pitches to get used to the longer distance. No problem at all. Pitched the entire game and we beat them. Had to pitch the next game at 40. She adjusted again. If they can pitch they can pitch. The majority of pitching is mental any way.