Speed of pitchers

[DonnieS]

I've been down this road so I think I'll put my 2 cents in. Sam knows his stuff. He is an old school warrior when it comes to softball. My DD is a pitcher, pretty good I think. Pac-10 freshman team, Pac-10 honorable mention, and top 5 in all pitching stats. When dad's tell me their DD has 5-6 pitches and she's only 11 or 12 I just smile, because I know she probrably on has command of 2. My DD started out with 3 pitches. All thru 10's and 12's. A peel drop( she thru hard and the drop spin was natural, a change up, and a palm up side cut style curve,that's it. The drop in and out was the set-up, the curve and change were the out pitch. She mastered those 3 pitches untill she could just about throw them blindfolded. At 14's she added a screw, and at gold she added the rise ( she skipped 16's). I believe Sam drew us MG Hopkins at the SO. CAL STATE QUALF. in 2002. DD did not throw alot of pitches but she gets it done. Speed come from becoming comfortable and mastering your pitches. By the way she tops out at 71mph now.

Wow, Blackjack, how big a kid is she, height/weight? She sounds awesome. My Pitching daughter is 5 years behind you guys, about the same with pitches but for some reason, the ball a lot of people call the rise, was very natural to her, she threw it a lot starting in 10u. Her curve and screw arent bad but her pitching coach is adding a drop to the curve to make it more fun. Her changeup works as well. Her speed is adequate for her age, turned 15 last week. We set speed goals for her back when she was in the 10u area, basically just picking up a couple of mph a year. She is ahead of her goals, but we dont know enough about this to know if the speed will keep increasing each year. However she has decided to be a 4 sport athlete at school, volleyball, basketball, track and softball, so I have my doubts about the pitching increasing as it has. But she loves all the sports, so quien sabe?

[Cannonball]

I've got to tell my dd to give up pitching. She's now 15 and I don't think has ever thrown 57. There seems to be a lot of 11 year olds in this thread throwing 57+. I'm going to borrow one of those special guns myself before we finish filling out all of those college questionaires.

[blackjack21]

My DD is about 5"9 155-160lbs. Don't get me wrong speed is not every thing. Pitch placement is a huge factor in the success of the pitch. And remember just because you hit your location does not mean the pitch will be sucessful, heard of a rocketec. Certain pitches produce certain outcomes, drops produce alot of grounders, rises are k's and pop-ups, curves are usually pulled to the shortstop. These are all at the younger age groups 10's-12's. At 14's is when I saw DD really develop a mental toughness that just comes with experience. She will remember what girls did in their previous at bat and use it to her advantage, sometimes without her coaches knowledge who was calling pitches. I don't thing you need to throw in the high 60's to be effective, you need a combination of things. Placement,movement,change of speed, pitcher's toughness.

[AM Softball]

AM,

I have a DD that pitched...I have also coached travel ball for10 years.

My DD's pitching coaches were: Don Sarno, Mike Smith, Dave Lindsey, and Butch Reyes.

Did you coach them when they were young? I have no doubt you know your stuff but I thought I did too until I coachd my daughter when she was that young (8-12). I found I had to modify things quite a bit becase of their age (like figure 4's, changing their snaps too much, repetition, etc.) Had I not had a daughter and saw firsthand the effects, I might have disagreed before too.

In my opinion, Don Sarno is the best pitching coach there is and my daughter has taken lessons with him as well, besides Ernie Parker, who was my coach.

[anonlooker]

I've got to tell my dd to give up pitching. She's now 15 and I don't think has ever thrown 57. There seems to be a lot of 11 year olds in this thread throwing 57+. I'm going to borrow one of those special guns myself before we finish filling out all of those college questionaires.

You don't need a special gun! Just lie, like everybody else!!

[Sam]

AM,

I have a DD that pitched...I have also coached travel ball for10 years.

My DD's pitching coaches were: Don Sarno, Mike Smith, Dave Lindsey, and Butch Reyes.

Did you coach them when they were young? I have no doubt you know your stuff but I thought I did too until I coachd my daughter when she was that young (8-12). I found I had to modify things quite a bit becase of their age (like figure 4's, changing their snaps too much, repetition, etc.) Had I not had a daughter and saw firsthand the effects, I might have disagreed before too.

In my opinion, Don Sarno is the best pitching coach there is and my daughter has taken lessons with him as well, besides Ernie Parker, who was my coach.

I coached almost every year she played.

[Sam]

I've been down this road so I think I'll put my 2 cents in. Sam knows his stuff. He is an old school warrior when it comes to softball. My DD is a pitcher, pretty good I think. Pac-10 freshman team, Pac-10 honorable mention, and top 5 in all pitching stats. When dad's tell me their DD has 5-6 pitches and she's only 11 or 12 I just smile, because I know she probrably on has command of 2. My DD started out with 3 pitches. All thru 10's and 12's. A peel drop( she thru hard and the drop spin was natural, a change up, and a palm up side cut style curve,that's it. The drop in and out was the set-up, the curve and change were the out pitch. She mastered those 3 pitches untill she could just about throw them blindfolded. At 14's she added a screw, and at gold she added the rise ( she skipped 16's). I believe Sam drew us MG Hopkins at the SO. CAL STATE QUALF. in 2002. DD did not throw alot of pitches but she gets it done. Speed come from becoming comfortable and mastering your pitches. By the way she tops out at 71mph now.

Hey Blackjack,

Great to hear from you. I would ask how things are going with your DD, but I can read how well she is doing in the newspaper.

She is a beautiful young lady, one of the nicest kids I've ever met, and the best pitcher any of my teams has ever faced. When we faced her at State, she actually had me chuckling at the reaction of some of my batters....they had never seen anything like the pitches they were "seeing."

Hope everything is great with you and your family. Happy Holidays.

Sam

[McGee]

These speeds seem high for rec and most travel programs in so cal. I wonder about players who claim six pitches. Many of the best college pitchers need 2 or 3 pitches to dominate, but they throw these pitches well and with control.
An off speed pitch is probably the most important pitch a new player should learn. Keeping hitters ooff balance is the key. I have seen hundreds off "rise balls" hit over the fense. They were really just fast balls up in the zone.

[Sftbll4ever]

These speeds seem high for rec and most travel programs in so cal. I wonder about players who claim six pitches. Many of the best college pitchers need 2 or 3 pitches to dominate, but they throw these pitches well and with control.
An off speed pitch is probably the most important pitch a new player should learn. Keeping hitters ooff balance is the key. I have seen hundreds off "rise balls" hit over the fense. They were really just fast balls up in the zone.

One thing to remember, I can say my dd has 6 pitches, but I will not say they all work. In a game, 2 maybe 3 of those pitches may work that day. She will still throw the others even if they aren't working just to keep the batter guessing. (Lilke, crap, is she going to hit me!!! HAHAHAHAHA)

[Gone in 2.6]

I've been down this road so I think I'll put my 2 cents in. Sam knows his stuff. He is an old school warrior when it comes to softball. My DD is a pitcher, pretty good I think. Pac-10 freshman team, Pac-10 honorable mention, and top 5 in all pitching stats. When dad's tell me their DD has 5-6 pitches and she's only 11 or 12 I just smile, because I know she probrably on has command of 2. My DD started out with 3 pitches. All thru 10's and 12's. A peel drop( she thru hard and the drop spin was natural, a change up, and a palm up side cut style curve,that's it. The drop in and out was the set-up, the curve and change were the out pitch. She mastered those 3 pitches untill she could just about throw them blindfolded. At 14's she added a screw, and at gold she added the rise ( she skipped 16's). I believe Sam drew us MG Hopkins at the SO. CAL STATE QUALF. in 2002. DD did not throw alot of pitches but she gets it done. Speed come from becoming comfortable and mastering your pitches. By the way she tops out at 71mph now.

Hey Blackjack,

Great to hear from you. I would ask how things are going with your DD, but I can read how well she is doing in the newspaper.

She is a beautiful young lady, one of the nicest kids I've ever met, and the best pitcher any of my teams has ever faced. When we faced her at State, she actually had me chuckling at the reaction of some of my batters....they had never seen anything like the pitches they were "seeing."

Hope everything is great with you and your family. Happy Holidays.

Sam

Whatever. She sure ticked me off in Oklahoma city last summer. Thanks for nothing Blackjack

The hardest throwing games I've seen with "youngsters", at least with radar guns present so there was actually data to see:

AA's Toys For Tots Dec 2004: Two 13 year olds dueled to a pool play 0-0 tie. Kenzie Fowler (consistent 61 MPH) and Trista Thomas (consistent 63 Mph).

First game of pool 12u Nationals 2004: Bree Brown from Spring Klein Impact Tanel (60-62. Hit 64 once), Trista Thomas from OC Fury (59-61).

Batbusters Exposure tournament, Mark Twain Middle School, November 2005: 14 year old Kenzie Fowler threw CONSISTENT 66-68 on multiple radar guns vs Doug Myers' 16u OC Batbusters (eventual national champ the following summer).

These girls are seniors now, all going D1.

Without radar guns

2006-2007: Aly Carda (sp?), now sophomore with Lady Magic 18 Gold threw ridiculously hard in 8th grade. Shut out Doug Myers 16U Batbusters once at Mark Twain. The now 15 year old is committed to UCLA.

2007-2008: Now freshman with 18 Gold Batbusters Bri Mathews threw very hard at 13 & 14 with the 16u Batbusters.