Increased velocity with weighted ball?

[Fluid Fastpitch]

For science! I just did the PPL drill myself with weighted balls, threw 4 each after a brief warmup.
Methodology: I started with the normal ball, progressively added weight, then dropped to the light balls and finished with a normal ball. At the end, I'd gained 2mph on the regulation ball. I used the starting speed on the regulation ball as a baseline. My results:

regulation ball: +/- 0
9oz ball: +2mph
10oz ball: +1mph
11oz ball: -2mph
12oz ball, did not do b/c I like my shoulder in its socket.
5oz ball: +3mph
wiffle ball: +5mph
regulation ball again: +2mph

Conclusion: Supported my hypothesis that a well conditioned arm would be strong enough to accelerate enough that the increased mass wouldn't slow it down enough to offset the gains by the mass of the ball (9oz is 50% more than 6oz, after all). 11oz ball started feeling too heavy, but this didn't strain my arm as bad as I thought it might and I'd consider it for training. I'm not worried about OP doing limited reps with the 9oz setup anymore, their DD is probably (hopefully) in better shape than me.

Will now submit to @pattar for peer review.

(tongue firmly in cheek, but thought it was interesting.)

 

[Mike-Coach-Q]

Curious about your routine with that. Do you do those in drills or full pitches? How often?

It depends on the age and strength of the pitcher. My GD is second yr 12. We do 1 cycle standing in a stride position., working on a smooth circle and pull down. My 15yr old freshmen in HS started with 2 cycles and now does 3 cycles pitching off the queen of the hill, not at 100% effort. My now freshmen in college pitched 5 cycles about 80% effort last Yr. as a senior in HS.

 

[Sweetclemens]

Funny my DD has amazing form and mechanics w a weighted ball but not so great with a regular ball! Go figure!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Towny9]

I think she must be tense when throwing normally and was more relaxed/looser with the weighted ball. Will play around with it again later this week and hopefully can keep the increase when switching back to the normal ball.

Quite possibly. Either way exciting at the possibility there might be some easy velocity to gain if she can transfer the feeling.

 

[LEsoftballdad]

I cannot imagine catching a weighted ball at faster speeds than my daughter throws already. I did it when she was in 12U, and even then, it hurt when the ball didn't hit the pocket, but she was only throwing in the mid-40s.

 

[Mike-Coach Q]

 

[Mike-Coach-Q]

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From my experience , the arms move faster than the legs. With my students , I'm not as much trying to speed up the arm circle as much as I'm trying to sync the legs to the fastest arm circle as possible. A lot of pitchers ball and hand is by the hip as the front foot loads, leaving some possible speed behind and a posture that doesn't have a firm foundation.

 

[Mike-Coach Q]

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[Shawn]

Quite possibly. Either way exciting at the possibility there might be some easy velocity to gain if she can transfer the feeling.

I think there is more to just strength/speed. You can feel new things as you change the weights.

 

[Towny9]

I think there is more to just strength/speed. You can feel new things as you change the weights.

Right. I actually believe that weighted balls can help with command as the body has to adapt to the different weights.