Thread: Different Pitching Distances/Ball

My 11 YO DD has been pitching for a little over a year. For the last 8 months she has worked with a PC once a week and has made very nice progress. She throws hard, but as a result struggles with consistency from outing to outing. She is presently playing on a 10U Club Team that is playing in 6 tournaments this spring. For "social" reasons, she is also playing on a Gr. 5/6 rec team. For the club team she throws the 11" ball from 35 ft. I have not allowed her to pitch in rec because the league uses the 12" ball from 38 ft.

This summer she is going to play on a 12u town travel team that uses the 12" ball from 40ft. (Not enough girls for a 10u town travel team).

Now for my question ... Should I let her pitch a little in rec to get used to the bigger ball and farther distance? I am concerned that going back and forth between rec and club will throw off her mechanics. Thoughts?

Originally Posted by Way2Be

I am concerned that going back and forth between rec and club will throw off her mechanics.

Don't be. Experienced pitchers generally don't have much trouble adjusting their release points. She should be fine.

My daughter pitches 10U Rec and Select(11", 35ft) and ocassionally subs in 12U (12", 40ft) and doesn't seem bothered changing over in spite of the fact that she rarely practices with the 12" ball or the longer distance. In fact, on Saturday she pitched a 10U game and then a 12U doubleheader (not all of the innings only 7 innings total) and actually pitched better from the longer distance. I thought it would be a much bigger transition than it seems to be.

The transition from an 11" ball at 35' to a 12" ball at 40' is not to be taken lightly. It took my DD the entire Fall season of our first year 12U to adjust. After she made the transition it made throwing from 35' seem like a piece of cake. Throwing the 12" ball also made the 11" ball seem light, so there is additional strength gained from the bigger ball. Therefore, I would HIGHLY recommend starting the transition as soon as you reach a point in your season where it will not be detrimental if things get worse before they get betterm (probably 2-3 weeks if she throws 3-4 times/week).

Thanks to everyone for their input. I have been reading this forum for a few weeks and really appreciate how positive and helpful everyone remains in their replies.

This evening my DD pitched two innings at 12"/40. Her second pitch ended up at her feet , but once she settled down she did well. Afterwards she told me that she felt fine and would like to continue.

We throw 3-4 times per week and we will only practice at 11"/35, since her pitching in the club tournaments is much more competitive and important at this time.

Again, I appreciate your thoughts. This forum remains one of the classiest I have found on Softball.

Your transitioning your daughter to a 12 inch ball and throwing three feet further in the rec league. Sounds ideal. Transitioning to the 12" and throwing from 40 would be a five foot change. I think the sooner you make the transition the better it will be for your daughter. I remember the first tournament my daughter had to throw from 43 feet. It took about ten pitches to figure out the three foot difference.