new pitching coach

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ok I got a 12u 2nd yr girl that pitches 52-54mph consistently up to 54-55 depending on the pitches and how warm she is we have a new pitching coach we are starting with this Thursday and he thinks he can get my daughter up to 60 if not close to it by next season. also he wants to focus on her rise ball. my ? is how rare is it to have a 12u pitcher being able to hit 60mph. im just curious?(if he can get her there).
 
Dec 5, 2012
4,143
63
Mid West
Pretty rare to see a 13 yr old hitting upper 50s to 60ish...but not impossible under the right conditions. Assuming her mechanics are money, which they probably are if she's getting mid 50s as a 12u. I'd say getting to the next phase is more of a physical fitness and body maturity issue. No pc is going to help her grow into her adult body any quicker. My money says if she can truly cruise at 55mph as a 12u, she'll be a 60mph HS sophomore anyways...
 
Sep 10, 2013
603
0
i would be vewy, vewy careful about coaches who 'promise' things like that. My DD will turn 14 next week and her progress has been gradual. @12 48 to 51 mph, @13 52 - 55 mph. while i'm hoping she will be able to hit 58 next year, as already mentioned by others, not really due to her PC. in fact, DD's PC has NEVER mentioned any hard numbers.
 

JAD

Feb 20, 2012
8,231
38
Georgia
Every pitcher strives to get better, but I would like to caution you against putting too much time and effort into just throwing faster. I have seen a lot of 60+ MPH pitchers who could not throw a strike more than 3 pitches out of 10. I would suggest putting more emphasis on proper mechanics, movement, and hitting your spots. With proper mechanics, practice, and growth the speed will take care of itself. As a coach I would much rather have a pitcher throwing 56-58 with good movement vs. a 60+ MPH corkscrew fastballer. I have seen a lot of fast pitchers at 12U get lazy because they can blow the ball by batters, but by 14U the batters are starting to put her fastball into play, and by 16U batters are teeing off on her fastball....
 

JAD

Feb 20, 2012
8,231
38
Georgia
we have a new pitching coach we are starting with this Thursday and he thinks he can get my daughter up to 60 if not close to it by next season.

I would also be very leery of any pitching coach who makes bold promises in improvement "only if you switch to him/her for pitching lessons".....if they are so sure of the results will they offer a money back guarantee in writing?
 

Ken Krause

Administrator
Admin
May 7, 2008
3,911
113
Mundelein, IL
I've personally observed one 12U pitcher in all my years of coaching hit 60 mph. I gunned her myself on my Jugs gun. She didn't do it on every pitch - there was about an 8 mph difference between her top pitch (assuming fastball) and the rest of her pitches. But she could hit 60-61 several times an inning. It was impressive to see.

As others have cautioned, I would be leery or anyone making specific speed promises. There are a lot of factors that go into speed, including how willing the pitcher is to work hard and follow instructions. It's a worthy goal, but be careful of guarantees.
 
yeah like I said she pitches consistently between 52-54 with her fastballs hitting that occasional 55-56 which usually occurs when she's really warm, her PC before was just me I used to pitch back in the day bit I'm by far not a professional pitching coach and cannot teach her anymore so in saying that, the new pitching coach never promised us he could get her to 60, but in knowing that she has had no formal training before from a pitching coach he said it would be possible considering her mechanics are good (ir) wise. She's just about 5'5 120 so a decent size kid n we have been working on her core now.I guess we both are excited to see what a professional coach can bring to the table now that we have one.oh I should give you guys alittle background on her, she can hit all her spots when pitching and warm she's played over 100 games this year not all pitching but the majority she has with only hitting 2 batters all year, can throw a drop,curve,n change hitting her spots 75-80% of the time. And now is going to start to learn the rise.I should also mention she has been gunned by her PC which is the pitching coach for a div 2 former national champs softball college team so I do believe the gun is fairly accurate.
 
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