10u pitching speeds

[Westwind]

The thread is popular because most 10u pitchers parents are new to the game and are trying to figure out how dd stacks up. some are trying to decide whether or not they want to continue with a 5-6 night per week softball schedule.

 

[RubberBiscuit]

Note that I do not equate K-Monsters to just plain ole "fireballers".

Just speed does nothing for me past 12U.

K-Monsters have mastery of their pitch selection, spin, and speed variation to conclude with MUCH less balls put into fair territory and MUCH more swings-n-misses.

I have a sore spot on this topic as I have witnessed coaches tell K-Monsters they should throw more hittable balls to get the rest of the team more action and that just drives me friggin nuts. (Seen this through both direct confrontation to the pitcher AND through just not calling the best pitches.)

And to the mention that it is risky to have a team rely on a K-Monster for the "mode" of the game because they eventually find that H-Monster hitting team. Well I say it's just as risky to rely on pure hitting too when you eventually end up facing that rare K-Monster. I have seen many a bat-swaggering teams just mentally give up after three innings of not hitting the ball. It goes both ways.

I suspect that in general, PC's who focus soooo much on "Sally, just hit your spot and you are great" are producing (in general again) more hittable pitchers. Ya you can say it's the bats and it's the batting coaching these years. But I say along with that is the decline in producing top rung K-Monsters by teaching them to throw a ball to NOT get hit.

 

[humpty]

Why is this thread so popular? Who cares about speeds at 10u? Or even bragging about hitting spots...

35 feet can make a flamethrower out of a lot of pitchers. Even the best pitcher (and I am not talking about missing on purpose) only hit spots about 60 percent of the time.

Obviously this thread is not relative to you but thanks for the useless post. The goal is to strike out every batter. Go watch slow pitch if your not a fan of pitching. Weak balls put in play are achieved the same way as ks. Work the corners mix speeds. Just cause a kid throws hard doesn't mean its grooves down the middle. I would take the pitcher that throws 50 over the kid that throws 40 every time.

 

[PGSAKen]

Being I am an actual 10U coach and a club pitching instructor(who coaches college exposure team as well so I have been through the ranks) I can truly vouch vs a parent.

My successful 10U pitchers throw mid to high 40s AND mix in a changeup very well. They can hit corners but are not 100% accurate. They have good misses.

If we did not mix speeds wed get destroyed. We have faced many high 40s pitchers with no changeup and destroyed them hitting.

The best 10U pitchers I have ever had made the ball move with spin. Throwing a flat fastball never got any 10yo mound time with me.

 

[humpty]

All the older pitchers can't really throw any spin (according to this board), yet 10u's can and do? hmmm.....

Maybe you should have started your DD pitching sooner. But who cares about 10u pitchers. Everyone knows all college pitchers come from outer space none of them started at 8 have been putting in work for the last 10yrs. Who cares about 10u pitching none of them ever make it. It's called fastpitch for a reason speed dominates. The same kids that throw their fb hard learn to throw the curve, rise and drop hard. In the words of ricky bobby its the fastest that gets paid.

 

[Ice_Dad99]

What are the top 10u pitchers in your area/state throwing. I've seen the chart that says avg 10u 38-42 top kids upper 40s low 50s rare. DD plays in fl and the top kids are 44-47. I've seen most of the A teams this season. I only know 1 kid that is close to 50. I've been talking with a guy from GA and he tells me almost every A team in GA has a kid throwing 50. Is fl that far behind?

Here in Ohio I would venture to say that the 38-45 mph would be about average for most of the better pitchers and we have some that can push high 40's low 50's occasionally and those are generally the 11 y.o. 10U eligible girls who find that they are not quite as dominant when they lose that 5' at 12u.

 

[Westwind]

Out in left field, you are a fan of pitching? Sounds to me like you are more of a fan of being contrary.

Mods, maybe we can get a Left Field Lawn Chair forum for all the posters no one wants to listen to. They can be hostile and smug among themselves there.

 

[MsDinosaur]

Why is this thread so popular? Who cares about speeds at 10u? Or even bragging about hitting spots...

35 feet can make a flamethrower out of a lot of pitchers. Even the best pitcher (and I am not talking about missing on purpose) only hit spots about 60 percent of the time.

It's an interesting thread--there are all kinds of different perspectives and opinions going on here and everyone is making great points. What's not to like?

 

[JAG825]

I'm in the Northeast and unfortunately we are still practicing indoor so no tourneys for us yet (well, we are a town travel team so we don't have the funds for indoor tourneys). Anyway, my DD (4'10", 90lbs) is a 10u pitcher and should have decent velocity for this area - low/mid 40's. She has a good CU and can hit spots. Not overpowering but hopefully strong enough to carry us deep in local tourneys. There were a few girls last year in 10u that dominated up here. All threw in the mid/upper 40's (for the biggest of the group). I don't think we have that type of pitcher around for the 10u division this year.

I am also from NY and I agree from what I have seen so far in my area the speed is low to mid 40's. My DD is 4'7" and 70lbs and she is also in that range.

 

[ScottyDont]

My daughter is a relatively big (4'11", 102lb) 10 year old. She throws hard for her age, the gun says she's hitting 50 when she really brings it. I doubt she could throw 50 all day, but anyone will tell you that speed is only half the battle. She works more on her change-up and screwball than her fastball now that she can locate the fastball pretty well.