14u speed rating

[TigerForty]

Gday DFP friends

Getting courageous here this is my second thread in 2 years.

Love this site, fantastic info and takes up lots of my precious time.

I am trying to find a post regarding the speeds of 14u pitchers and where they rate, there are plenty on 10u posts but my daughter is now past that stage.

My DD and I don't spend a lot time discussing speed and as I have said before spin is more important to us, however I am curious as she is starting to become quite sharp with her velocity, I use a $150au bushnell gun and she reads at 54 - 56mph average in training and is not much different in game mode. I am led to believe the Bushnell can be 5 - 7 mph lower in reading and I do find at times it can be inconsistent. She has great location,spin and movement.

Does anyone have any experience with 14u speeds and ratings where they should be at...... My DD turns 14yo in 2 months.

Cheers

Justin

 

[canyonjoe]

55 is pretty good for 14U. Rember U14 is soccer

More importantly what was her stat line this year and against what level of competition.

 

[marriard]

55 is pretty good for 14U. Rember U14 is soccer

More importantly what was her stat line this year and against what level of competition.

Excuse the Australian....it may be U14 there in my homeland....I suspect it is...

Anywhere in the 50's is good for someone just about to turn 14. 55 is above average - and it feels like the Bushnell is reading about right unless you are Radar Grandading it (search for it) where it will read faster than it should, not slower.

I am interested - is she being taught the ISF leap or is she doing the USA stride and drag? Love to see some video.

 

[TigerForty]

Excuse the Australian....it may be U14 there in my homeland....I suspect it is...

Anywhere in the 50's is good for someone just about to turn 14. 55 is above average - and it feels like the Bushnell is reading about right unless you are Radar Grandading it (search for it) where it will read faster than it should, not slower.

I am interested - is she being taught the ISF leap or is she doing the USA stride and drag? Love to see some video.

Gday Marriard

Thanks for the reply,

Yes we do have u15 ,u17, u19 and so on here in Oz....Its only 12u with school softball here.

Hahaha and no Im not a Radar Grandader,I sit right behind the catcher (umpire position)whenever im gunning. It seems at times she is quicker than 56mph but as you would know we see so many reps it all slows up to the eye.

We use the stride and drag technique with IR and find this style the best fit. Hello elbow is still very common with the hop in most parts of Oz but its not for us. I have included a link to a recent post of my DD current stage of her development, the vids should take you to our youtube page we have just created.

Your feedback would be much appreciated, My DD and I have basically got to this point on our own of course with the help of this amazing site and lots of video analysis

http://www.discussfastpitch.com/softball-pitching/29214-13-yo-dd-internal-rotation-progress.html

Thank you

 

[marriard]

Gday Marriard

Thanks for the reply,

Your feedback would be much appreciated, My DD and I have basically got to this point on our own of course with the help of this amazing site and lots of video analysis

http://www.discussfastpitch.com/softball-pitching/29214-13-yo-dd-internal-rotation-progress.html

Thank you

She looks awesome. There really can't be many better in South Australia at that age - is she in the State Rep squad? I did some clinics last year in Victoria and Queensland and I only saw 1 girl that looked this good and she was a couple of years older.

Excellent explosion - she looks like she is throwing hard and getting everything she has into a pitch which is great. Great whip, great end position, great resistance when she lands...

There are some inefficiencies in the motion you may want to consider in her leg drive though. I was watching the video of all of her pitches and when you went outside to the pitching mat the thing I noticed is her drive leg path is way off to the left - it shouldn't be straight, but it also shouldn't be almost 45 degrees to the pitching rubber. It means not as much of her drive off the rubber is going forward.

I was trying to see what caused it and I think you can see it best again when she is outside on the pitching mat. I believe it is primarily caused because her drive leg tends to get real straight as she starts her back swing and doesn't get into the best drive position coming forward. My DD's pitching coach calls it 'getting stacked' - others will talk about getting onto a sprinters position to get a greater push.

Backswing is very much stylistic for most pitchers as long as the timing is right - but not when it effects the actual motion. When your DD swings her pitching arm ALL the way back, both her legs go almost completely straight - which puts her in a less-athletic position as she starts her drive forward. I am sure you have seen the slow-mo of Amanda Scarborough pitching. Look at the legs as she moves forward at the 0:06-0:09 mark. Look at how much bend there is. Your DD gets SOME bend back as she moves forward, but there is more there (so more speed to grab)



How do you work on this? Depends - my DD got rid of almost her entire backswing and goes into more a skiing position as she goes back (so imagine at the start of her pitch she basically pulls both arms back with elbow bent and legs in a more sprinter-like starting position with both heels loading as she moves - a lot less motion going back. The other is to get more of a bend in the backswing arm so it is not pulling her back so far. We also do the whole heel up/heels down movement to make sure we are engaging the legs. You don't need a powerdrive - but if you can get a yoga foot hemisphere to pitch off to help get better leg drive use it the same way the Powerdrive is demonstrated.

This -> https://www.amazon.com/Balance-Mass..._SR160,160_&psc=1&refRID=HBJZHDE14YZ3C35RMRVX


Minor for her whip - she gets into a great whip and does get into a palm down follow through position but then occasionally snaps her arm back - it isn't a big deal but that she can snap her arm back like that physically that means there is a little more there. If you are whipping through as hard as you can, snatching it back should be almost impossible.

I would definitely be looking to get her into an Aussie Sparks tour in the next year or two. One of our older teams played them last year on tour in California - they were excellent and a great bunch to be around.

 

[marriard]

Oh and is she ever want to be an exchange student she'd fit right in here in Florida on my DD's Travel Ball and High School team and I have a spare room.

Two Aussie's in the circle would be great

 

[Legendsmom]

That sounds like a good


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[canyonjoe]

Justin, sorry about the 14U comment. It was meant as a joke and hope you took it that way. If DD wants to come live in NV, we have a place for her.

 

[marriard]

Justin, sorry about the 14U comment. It was meant as a joke and hope you took it that way. If DD wants to come live in NV, we have a place for her.

Now, now.. I offered first... We have real beaches here and the water is warm

I even have Vegemite and Tim-Tams.

 

[TigerForty]

She looks awesome. There really can't be many better in South Australia at that age - is she in the State Rep squad? I did some clinics last year in Victoria and Queensland and I only saw 1 girl that looked this good and she was a couple of years older.

Excellent explosion - she looks like she is throwing hard and getting everything she has into a pitch which is great. Great whip, great end position, great resistance when she lands.

Thankyou so much Marriard

Awesome feedback, now where do I start.

ZA has represented South Oz at 12u and is now in her second year of u15 rep side, I have 2 other DD's 11yo & 12yo who are current u12 state reps (catcher & another pitcher).

The drive leg is something I have never noticed, I have been through lots of past video sessions and it does creep in every so often. Great pick up and we will keep an eye on that from here on in. The legs def do straighten on the back swing but as she moves forward it seem she does stack but I can see this could be better, This is really good for us as we now have some new areas to focus on that we probably thought was pretty good.

The video you have inserted of Amanda is imprinted in our brain, There has been many conversations, tears, happiness and defining moments watching this 100's of times over and over. We have tried every style of windup and the scarby swing back as we call it, it is what my DD loves and owns, I dont think I could ever get it away from her as its been along for the ride through everything. Amanda Scarborough is my DD idol since the day she first seen her video and we have used her video/style as our learning tool as our foundation.

Every now and then ZA will try and snap the ball with a stiff wrist causing her to recoil and not allow the IR to finish with the palm down, doesnt happen all the time but we are aware and she has created an exagerated follow through after the IR to stop the occasional stiffness happening.

I have attached a comparison slideshow of where we are at now along side Amanda Scarborough mechanics, Its taken alot of hard work and we are now starting to see some real progress.

[video=youtube_share;ocEUd6HDF-w]http://youtu.be/ocEUd6HDF-w[/video]

Forgot to mention the glove does swim at times, Do you have any advice for this?


Thanks again for your time, I'll let you know how our session goes after tomorrow......


BTW..... Florida sounds great.....Maybe the GATORS in few years time.....��

Justin