12U pitchers throwing 58-60 mph

[radness]

My daughter's college AC says if a girl can't throw strikes by second year 14U, she'll never throw strikes enough to pitch in college. I wonder if there's any truth to that?

There's probably already some that do.

 

[BillyB]

I didn’t see it with my own eyes but I don’t doubt it. These are all taken with a pocket radar with a girls normal pitching motion no walk through or any of that. That girl is a second year 14u and she is bigger than the vast majority of men on earth.

Time it up and let it rip!! The ONLY thing holding back hitting that is clean enough timing/mechanics,
and the main thing...............Strength and matching growth/size because kids are all over the map when they hit that growth jump between 10-16 years of age.

 

[uncdrew]

Let’s not forget the catcher, and coaching matters as much as the pitcher. Catchers matter a lot.

In my observation which is semi limited. No correlation exists between velocity and accuracy. If anything harder throwers are slightly more accurate. Usually having better form. Slow pitchers seem to get a larger zone from many umps.

You cannot work on accuracy without working on form for high velocity. In my experience with DD, to stay accurate she needs to throw from time to time worried about form and not caring were it is going.

Good point.

I remember a few years ago my DD would slow her pitch down in an effort to get more accurate. I instructed her to do the opposite. Throw harder.

That one time, I looked pretty smart.

 

[uncdrew]

I would say in 12-14u A level ball all of your pitchers are going to be quite accurate or they wouldn't be pitching in A level ball. They are a ton of girls in 12 -14u that are not accurate and they are playing B level or C level ball. The girls pitching on your team are both super fast and accurate, which I guess is why they are playing A level ball. If they were not accurate or throwing mid 40's instead of mid to upper 50's I am sure they would probably have to find somewhere else to play. I think what you would consider slow is a little off due to the level of ball you play. From the numbers I have seen in 12u slow would be mid 40's. mid to upper 50's is going top put you in the top 10%-15%.

You're exactly right on all accounts.

 

[uncdrew]

If 50-55 is lower speed at 12u, we don't have many fast pitchers in our state. Low speed for 12u B-level travel ball is 38-42 IMHO.

We faced 2-3 pitchers clocked at 60 in games. My DD told me based on the count she would assume fastball and just swing and hope for the best. She actually had great hits against these pitchers a few times. *shrug*

But 50-55 our girls tee off on. And as many of you have witnessed, anything slower can fool them and make them mad. They've got to learn how to succeed against slower pitchers a bit better than they currently do.

 

[softball dad 6]

The complaining about not being able to hit slow pitching is one of my.pet peeves. It also seems to work like an infectious disease. If one girl has a bad at bat, she blames the slow pitching. Before you know it, the whole team is talking about it and using it for an excuse.
Back in the old days of playing baseball, I don't ever remember the team complaining about a slow pitcher.
I now have two rules for the girls. Nobody can talk about how cold or hot it is during the game, and no one is allowed to complain about slow pitching. I also like what the other coach tells the girls. If you don't like the pitcher they have in the game, hit her hard and you will get a new pitcher.

Sent from my SM-G991U using Tapatalk

 

[uncdrew]

The complaining about not being able to hit slow pitching is one of my.pet peeves. It also seems to work like an infectious disease. If one girl has a bad at bat, she blames the slow pitching. Before you know it, the whole team is talking about it and using it for an excuse.
Back in the old days of playing baseball, I don't ever remember the team complaining about a slow pitcher.
I now have two rules for the girls. Nobody can talk about how cold or hot it is during the game, and no one is allowed to complain about slow pitching. I also like what the other coach tells the girls. If you don't like the pitcher they have in the game, hit her hard and you will get a new pitcher.

Sent from my SM-G991U using Tapatalk

Me too.

Holding the ball in the outfield was my biggest one, but they don't do that anymore.

I've told my DD to try to take charge of the dugout and shut down that silliness. For her to tell the girls "It's just like when Coach throws us BP".

 

[NJZoo]

Me too.

Holding the ball in the outfield was my biggest one, but they don't do that anymore.

I've told my DD to try to take charge of the dugout and shut down that silliness. For her to tell the girls "It's just like when Coach throws us BP".

I've told this before, but we were in a 12U tournament where a girl was throwing 27mph - girls were jumping out of their shoes to swing at the ball. It definitely took us once through the lineup to settle down and string hits together. Only saving grace is that we didn't face 55mph in the next game. The girls will adjust to speed (fast or slow), but it's tough going from one extreme to the other. That's why I always tip my cap to girls who throw hard and have a good changeup.

 

[Towny9]

The complaining about not being able to hit slow pitching is one of my.pet peeves. It also seems to work like an infectious disease. If one girl has a bad at bat, she blames the slow pitching. Before you know it, the whole team is talking about it and using it for an excuse.
Back in the old days of playing baseball, I don't ever remember the team complaining about a slow pitcher.
I now have two rules for the girls. Nobody can talk about how cold or hot it is during the game, and no one is allowed to complain about slow pitching. I also like what the other coach tells the girls. If you don't like the pitcher they have in the game, hit her hard and you will get a new pitcher.

Sent from my SM-G991U using Tapatalk

Q - You know who doesn’t have a problem hitting slow pitching?

A - Good hitters.

That’s what I usually tell the boys and girls. If slow pitching were harder to hit the pros would be full of them. Good hitters can adjust pitch to pitch. Bad hitters can’t even adjust at bat to at bat or game to game.

 

[jdint]

Q - You know who doesn’t have a problem hitting slow pitching?

A - Good hitters.

That’s what I usually tell the boys and girls. If slow pitching were harder to hit the pros would be full of them. Good hitters can adjust pitch to pitch. Bad hitters can’t even adjust at bat to at bat or game to game.

Even the best of the best can struggle with slow pitching if they rarely see it.