Velocity vs accuracy

[NJZoo]

As for the original poster's question. At 10U I would say location is the most important thing for a pitcher to have. Walks kill you at that age (or any age). After that it would be speed, Again, at 10U most girls will be intimidated by anyone throwing over 45mph. Finally, spin. Not that I don't think that it's important - quite the contrary, I just don't think many girls can effectively spin it at that age. As you get older, and depending on the level of competition, the importance of those qualities may change.

Regarding average speeds, we just finished our final 12U season as a regional level A team. In our area, I would say the average speed we faced is about 48-50mph. Now, this is all anecdotal, because there is only 1 facility in our area that has radar at the fields and using PR at a few games. We actually faced a girl in an open tournament that threw 28mph! That's what happens with averages. I'm guessing the fastest pitchers we faced were about 55-57. Our pitchers lived in the 52-54 range.

 

[Rick M]

Yeah, my ds’ pitching coach uses one at the local baseball facility where he gives lessons. It is an amazing tool - very expensive. The nice thing is he forwards all of the data to DH so he can keep track of his progress.

I’ve read about sharing Rapsodo data as a recruiting tool in baseball, not so much with softball. I imagine it will pick up some steam, it’s like an impartial breakdown of everything a pitcher throws. Kind of like official times for racing sports.


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[LEsoftballdad]

I’ve read about sharing Rapsodo data as a recruiting tool in baseball, not so much with softball. I imagine it will pick up some steam, it’s like an impartial breakdown of everything a pitcher throws. Kind of like official times for racing sports.


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Our hitting instructor wants to put both of my daughters on the Rapsodo next week. She said it is very good for softball hitting but is way behind for softball pitching compared to baseball pitching. Does anyone know if that is true?

 

[uncdrew]

Does this measure velocity out of the hand or at the plate.

It's an interesting question and there's a lack of understanding of how radar guns work. I have parents say "She's pitching 50mph from 40 feet but it's much slower at 43 feet". Well no, not really. The radar will show you the same speed at almost any distance, as it captures the highest speed the ball goes on the flight of the ball. Which is at release. A girl's pitching speed doesn't drop when they go from 10U to 12U or 12U to 14U (as they move further from the plate).

Yes, the ball is going slower when it crosses the plate. But that's not what the radar gun captures. Well, not the under $500 ones. I think the Stalker ones can give you "release speed" and "over-the-plate speed".

 

[uncdrew]

My DD is both tall and strong, huge benefits in pitching. She's over a foot taller than about half her teammates. So speed has never been an issue, though we'd always love more.

In 10U you can win a lot of games with speed. Even if location/accuracy isn't great. And speed is very sexy. For the DD, the coach, the parents, etc. It's very easy to see why people love to see speed. However, I've always told my DD that a walk is like an error. It puts someone on first base that shouldn't be there. And thus we work hard on location, and it pays huge dividends. She only walked 14 batters thus summer having pitched to 459 batters. Not having those runners on base keeps the ERA and WHIP low, helps get Ws, and just reduces the stress level (of dad, probably her too) tremendously.

If you focus on mechanics, speed and location will both improve. We always treat them about equally. Try to get better at both. And mechanics is the answer. Work on front side resistance, both get better. Work on a consistent drive, both get better. Work on arm circle, glove side, hip movement, etc. etc. and both get better.

As far as movement pitches, what we've experienced is that if your mechanics are really good, you can learn and see results from movement pitches in the very first lesson. Yes, takes months to improve from there... but we were happily stunned that the curve and rise were actually a different flight path in the very lesson she was taught how to throw them. And that's because we worked on mechanics and knowing what her body was doing for 3 straight years.

 

[radness]

I think you may be getting stuck on what you see all the time. If you are always at A level tourneys you are going to have a false perception that everyone throws really really hard. Even in the B level tourney he described above he wasn’t seeing really fast pitching all the time. Now if you add rec and high school ball into the equation you probably get even more slower pitchers into the averages.

If you took averages of just A level pitchers than what you consider rare would be different than most. A level teams probably only represent 5-10% of all softball players. So to most, pitchers that throw hard like many of them would be considered rare.

The first time I attended a showcase tournament as a spectator for an 18u tourney I was actually surprised to find many were pitching under 60 mph. This tourney has teams from all over the country. I had the false impression that everyone at that level threw 65 mph plus. It just isn’t the case. Those girls are out there but it is why we call them rare.


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You seem to think there is not a mixture of talent levels here in California but there is. There's all different Talent levels.
( perhaps you did not see my previous comments earlier in the thread )

no I am not stuck, rather adding to discussion the point of defining what pitching speeds actually are.

Thats the point brought to the table!
Enjoy!

 

[radness]

I find it peculiar that people would think that watching softball in California would not be an example of the different Talent levels that there are in softball. Simply that we have over 40 million people here. We have a population density and a team number density that is greater than any other state.

Because of this are able to see a massive amount of different teams playing at multiple different venues usa, usa preps, pgf, alliance, usssa, afa, Etc
Makes Gathering assessment information a great place to do it because there is so much softball can be found in the same region.

Plus the teams that come here from out of state.

 

[_MIA_]

I find it peculiar that people would think that watching softball in California would not be an example of the different Talent levels that there are in softball. Simply that we have over 40 million people here. We have a population density and a team number density that is greater than any other state.

Because of this are able to see a massive amount of different teams playing at multiple different venues usa, usa preps, pgf, alliance, usssa, afa, Etc
Makes Gathering assessment information a great place to do it because there is so much softball can be found in the same region.

you are right Rad..about everything. Also yes I know, just “discussing” no need to respond to tell me that.

 

[radness]

you are right Rad..about everything. Also yes I know, just “discussing” no need to respond to tell me that.

No I am not right about everything definitely not.

For that matter of right or wrong...
see there are a lot of people that bring perspective to the conversation that I don't disagree with because they are bringing their experiences and communicating about it. That is the point of having discussion. I'm glad that people comment to this type of discussion.
Info helps think through things. To help make better decisions. That is a good thing!
Gets people/me included,
out of own backyards!

 

[_MIA_]

No I am not right about everything definitely not.

For that matter of right or wrong...
see there are a lot of people that bring perspective to the conversation that I don't disagree with because they are bringing their experiences and communicating about it. That is the point of having discussion. I'm glad that people comment to this type of discussion.
Info helps think through things. To help make better decisions. That is a good thing!
Gets people/me included,
out of own backyards!

Let me recap the velocity average “discussion” . Stats (not opinions) were given taken by an expensive machine which only serious pitchers are likely to use which were likely taken all over the country. You stated you thought those averages were on the low end because of what your single set of eyes have seen and you are backing up your claim by stating that in your opinion the average pitcher in CA is comparable to an average US pitcher.

Did I get any of that incorrect?