10U pitch speed

[Snotbubbles]

MacLobo - The following is the opinion of a young catcher's dad, and youth coach (currently 12U)...

Youth progression...
1. Throw strikes - Especially at the younger ages, the most effective thing a pitcher can do is not walk batters, and give their catcher a good chance to catch the ball. This, alone, is a gigantic game-changer for 8U and 10U.
2. Improve velocity - Once there is consistency with staying in the strike zone, increasing speed will improve effectiveness. However, if the BB count increases, it's a step backwards.
3. Change-up - With a consistent fastball, a reliable change-up improves the effectiveness of a young pitcher dramatically.
4. Improve location control - Having the control to keep the ball off the center of the plate reduces the opportunities for quality contact.
5. Movement pitch - Drop, screw, curve. Pick one and master it.
6. Riseball

The other school of thought is switching #1 and #2. Learn to throw it as hard as you can, then when you have mastered your mechanics the location will naturally follow. The reasoning is that if you aren't throwing it as hard as you can, when you start to do that it throws things out of whack. I'm not saying either is right or wrong, just that there is another school of thought.

Re: Pitch speeds. Yesterday at my daughters group pitching lessons she stayed to watch his "level 2" class which is good control & 40+ mph speeds. In the class all the girls speeds were radar gunned (JUGs) and they were throwing 40-48 mph. He asked them what grades they were in and the youngest was in 5th grade, oldest 7th (so they were all older than 10u). We didn't stay for his "level 3" class which is 50+ mph so I don't know if there were any 10u there, but I seriously doubt it. All the girls looked at least 12U, most 14U.

 

[sluggers]

Learn to throw it as hard as you can, then when you have mastered your mechanics the location will naturally follow.

The whole debate about "speed" or "control" first is a red herring. You have to do both at the same time.

Here are some simple facts:

1) The coach will not put your DD in the circle if she can't "throw strikes".
2) Unless your DD is in the circle, she won't develop a love for pitching.
3) Once your DD develops a love for pitching, she wants to be in the circle as much as possible. Therefore, she will do what the coach wants ("throw strikes") rather than do what her Daddy wants ("throw hard").

What does that mean?

A parent must make sure the child is learning speed and control at the same time. It isn't difficult, but it is time consuming.

When you practice with your child, you have to decide if you are going to do "speed work" or "control work". You make the decision by *HONESTLY* evaluating your child's performance at the game.

 

[RetiredCoach]

Speed and control both result from good mechanics. The most important thing for a young pitcher (or any age pitcher) is having good mechanics. From good mechanics the speed will come and the control will develop.

 

[Snotbubbles]

Here are some simple facts:

1) The coach will not put your DD in the circle if she can't "throw strikes".
2) Unless your DD is in the circle, she won't develop a love for pitching.
3) Once your DD develops a love for pitching, she wants to be in the circle as much as possible. Therefore, she will do what the coach wants ("throw strikes") rather than do what her Daddy wants ("throw hard").

I see and understand the dilemma. It's a catch-22. It's also why finding the right team for your child at 10u is extremely important. Not all coaches are the "throw strikes" coaches. I'm thankful that she plays for a coach who is more concerned about her development than the results of the game. It took her coach an entire softball season to break her out of the "throw strikes" mentality where she would take something off her pitches and get her into a "throw hard" mentality. She now has even better control and has added 6 mph to her fastball since July.

 

[vol]

I see and understand the dilemma. It's a catch-22. It's also why finding the right team for your child at 10u is extremely important. Not all coaches are the "throw strikes" coaches. I'm thankful that she plays for a coach who is more concerned about her development than the results of the game. It took her coach an entire softball season to break her out of the "throw strikes" mentality where she would take something off her pitches and get her into a "throw hard" mentality. She now has even better control and has added 6 mph to her fastball since July.

Why would you not want a pitcher or coach to have a throw strikes mentality? You can't defend a walk.

 

[BT3100]

Three of the four pitchers on my DD's Rec team from last year are no longer pitching. I remember the dads of these girls telling them to slow down their pitches until they found their location. I was telling my kid to work to increase her speed. I guess it's two different schools of thought, but I think that speed should come first. With proper mechanics location will come.

 

[grcsftbll]

Mine naturally slows down for accuracy. I'm always telling her not to. She's hit 44 max in lessons from full pitch, consistently 41-42, but in games is closer to 38-39. During our practicing right now I'm trying hard to get her to not worry so much about location.

 

[Snotbubbles]

Why would you not want a pitcher or coach to have a throw strikes mentality? You can't defend a walk.

You don't want them to slow down their arm circle speed to throw strikes. Of course, the end game is to throw strikes, but it's throw strikes while throwing hard. Pitching is about repetition and muscle memory. Personally, I prefer my DD to have her body learn where her fastball release point is when she is throwing as hard as she can rather than having her body learn a release point for a slower arm speed and then have to re-learn at a faster arm speed.

 

[Eric F]

You don't want them to slow down their arm circle speed to throw strikes. Of course, the end game is to throw strikes, but it's throw strikes while throwing hard. Pitching is about repetition and muscle memory. Personally, I prefer my DD to have her body learn where her fastball release point is when she is throwing as hard as she can rather than having her body learn a release point for a slower arm speed and then have to re-learn at a faster arm speed.

I think I'm following your intent, but as a coach, if I have a choice between two pitchers - faster but has trouble finding the strike zone, or slower but consistently in the strike zone - I can tell you with complete certainty that the slower of these two pitchers will be in the circle more often. Wild pitchers put runners on base, and cost runs. I would rather give my defense a chance to make the outs.

 

[Snotbubbles]

I think I'm following your intent, but as a coach, if I have a choice between two pitchers - faster but has trouble finding the strike zone, or slower but consistently in the strike zone - I can tell you with complete certainty that the slower of these two pitchers will be in the circle more often. Wild pitchers put runners on base, and cost runs. I would rather give my defense a chance to make the outs.

I fully understand and don't fault you for your coaching decision. I'm sure there are many teams and many coaches who feel the same way. If my DD played only the field, I would probably feel the same way. However, as a parent of a 10u pitcher my one and only concern is for my DDs long-term development and not winning 10u games. I would happily find a lower level team who needs a pitcher (and there are a ton of them out there, especially here in the northeast) where she can get innings regardless of the outcome.