Ball Speed off of bat / Ball Distance Hit ?'s

[CoogansBluff]

This is interesting. I've never seen a ball hit 300' but 3 girls on my DD's travel team have gone yard in a game. Farthest one was pretty darn close to 250' and another one that would have been if hit higher it was a line drive 215ft fence. But you're right most have not hit one 200' and most don't. Yet I've been at those 12U tournaments where I hear a guy saying that some team hit 6 out in one game.

What age group is your DD's team?

I think it would be possible for a 12U team to hit 6 HR in one game, but it would have to be special circumstances. I've never seen it. I'd think it would be a national-level team on a 200-foot fence or even shorter. When I coached 12U, we had 2 girls who could hit it out, but they never did in a game. And we were just an average team. I can envision that a really strong team could attract several guys like those 2 or even better and put on a show if the stars align.

 

[Jquick823]

What age group is your DD's team?

I think it would be possible for a 12U team to hit 6 HR in one game, but it would have to be special circumstances. I've never seen it. I'd think it would be a national-level team on a 200-foot fence or even shorter. When I coached 12U, we had 2 girls who could hit it out, but they never did in a game. And we were just an average team. I can envision that a really strong team could attract several guys like those 2 or even better and put on a show if the stars align.

My DD's team is 16U but is 50/50 2nd year 14 and first year 16.

 

[Little Angels Softball]

I had four girls on my 12U team go out at 200' last season, with three of them doing it multiple times. Two more girls hit balls over 200' during games but we were playing on fields that didn't have fences at that distance. I'd say our longest ball was about 240' which was hit against a very good 14U pitcher when we were playing on a field with 220' fences.

I've seen plenty of 12U girls go yard. It happens almost every tourney at 14U. This is top-level ball.

As far as what is really long, I think in all my years I've only seen one ball hit by a girl during a game that I would say honestly flirted with 300' and that was by Chelsea Goodacre just last spring. I haven't really seen too many that would even go 275' other than that one blast.

 

[sbmom19]

DD's HS fence is 230' in center field and 225' at the poles and she hit 6 out last season (her sophomore year) and another of her teammates hit 2 out. We also saw at least 3 other high school players go yard on our field. This summer DD hit one out of an adult slowpitch field in town during a tournament (no regulation fences-it went over the chain link) and the city says that it measures just shy of 250'. Her measured bat/ball exit speed (measured by three different evaluaters at camps) is 71mph. I think that the technology of the bats contribute a great deal. I also think that proper swing mechanics are taught much more consistently which along with the bats improve the power...

 

[CoogansBluff]

DD's HS fence is 230' in center field and 225' at the poles and she hit 6 out last season (her sophomore year) and another of her teammates hit 2 out. We also saw at least 3 other high school players go yard on our field. This summer DD hit one out of an adult slowpitch field in town during a tournament (no regulation fences-it went over the chain link) and the city says that it measures just shy of 250'. Her measured bat/ball exit speed (measured by three different evaluaters at camps) is 71mph. I think that the technology of the bats contribute a great deal. I also think that proper swing mechanics are taught much more consistently which along with the bats improve the power...

That's major D-I power, for sure. I saw a 7th grader at a camp put on by an SEC school last winter who hit one probably 230. Considering her age, that's probably as impressive a shot as I've seen.

Was her exit speed (71 mph) off a tee? I know at least one girl who has hit 74 mph off front toss whose max distance is probably only 220-225 (less than your DD), so I wonder if front toss is that different than tee, or if there are other factors, such as radar angle, etc.

 

[sbmom19]

That's major D-I power, for sure. I saw a 7th grader at a camp put on by an SEC school last winter who hit one probably 230. Considering her age, that's probably as impressive a shot as I've seen.

Was her exit speed (71 mph) off a tee? I know at least one girl who has hit 74 mph off front toss whose max distance is probably only 220-225 (less than your DD), so I wonder if front toss is that different than tee, or if there are other factors, such as radar angle, etc.

It was off of a tee.

 

[Little Angels Softball]

Exit speed readings don't always equate to distance. The girl who has hit the most out on our team actually posts the fourth highest exit speeds out of 14 girls. Her swing, however, is the type that gets quite a few balls in the air and she either pops up a mile high or gets squared up and it flies out of the yard.

The girl with the highest exit speeds on our team has the second most HRs. She is also a fly ball hitter but is more top-spinny and doesn't get quite the lift the other girl gets.

The girls with the second and third highest exit speeds are typically top of the ball hitters so when they go yard it is more of an anomaly. One did it just last week and hit a towering shot about 225' .... she got under it a bit and it flew .... almost forever!

The hardest hit ball anyone on my team put in play last year was by the girl who posts the second-highest exit speeds. She is more of a low-ball hitter who hits top of the ball so most of her hits are on the ground or are low line drives. However, during a qualifier and facing a very good pitcher, she took a ball that was just below her knees and just in off the outside corner and hit a line shot that stayed exactly that high off the ground (about 1 1/2' - 2') all the way until it hit the right-center field fence. It just missed the 2B's right leg by about a foot and she hadn't even moved yet when it went by her and it made contact with the fence before the CF even completed her drop step. I am not sure how much further it would have traveled if the fence hadn't been there but it didn't look like the ball had slowed down very much when it hit. It was one of those "ooh and ahh" moments for everyone in attendance that only ended up as a double on the record.

 

[sbmom19]

I agree that swing mechanics are more important than exit speed but having both is a deadly combo.

 

[CoogansBluff]

Exit speed readings don't always equate to distance.

They don't always equate to success, that's for sure. But given the same trajectory, wouldn't the same exit speed = the longest distance?

But it's kinda like the longest hitters in golf aren't necessarily the best golfers. In fact, some of the longest hitters off the tee can't even make a living at pro golf. Simiarly, some of the most powerful baseball and softball hitters (off a tee) aren't going to reach the highest levels of their sport.

 

[JAD]

Furthest ball I have ever seen hit in person one hopped a 300 ft fence, so it landed @ 290. Awesome player who is going to Florida next year.