Height in Relationship to Pitching

[JJsqueeze]

what you just posted is proof of what you say cannot be proven. Why would taller players be the norm in softball if it didn't translate (in general) to more strength,better speed in throwing/swinging a bat etc. The very reason they tend to be taller is the advantage that being taller gives otherwise you would see a bell curve distribution in height that exactly mirrored the general population.

 

[dmaeganx2]

Well I do not know if this is off topic but heh . Last year I coached a 16u rec softball team who at the point had no pitchers on it. My DD had just started to learn about 1 month prior. I had a skinny lanky girl on the team who had never pitched she was like 5 foot 9 .
She was very mechanical, locked her elbow and had abosultely no stride mechanics. But said she would try.

just on her arm length with the above mechanics she could throw 45-46 at 13 years old. But she did not want to really learn how to pitch just volunteered if MY DD needed relief. Now that being said she could not get the ball anywhere near the plate most of the time but she tried just did not want to learn

 

[Classof2020]

Setting aside the linked lever part of the system (which just magnifies the effect). If you take two points on a rotating wheel, one say halfway out the radius and the other at the full radius, then the tangential velocity at the full radius is greater than at the halfway point for the same angular velocity. So in a nutshell, longer arm = faster throw if everything else is held constant.

This is the sort of thing that my nonscientific brain was trying to get to. I was picturing cracking a whip - a longer whip seems to have more snap (not that I have much experience with this either

When we work with Ken B. (who is 6 what Ken?? . . .4 or 5) and see the amazing whip he can generate it makes you wonder can a 5'6" pitcher ever have that same whip . . . not that they can't excel don't worry I'm not saying that.

Wondering if the gals with shorter levers get as much brush? Would love to see slow mo video of some of the shorties other than only Amanda's -say Danielle Lawrie & Lisa Fernandez.

 

[1bucketmom]

An example.....

Jenny Finch's drag foot tends to drop her heel but she can still get great distance from the mound. When a shorter pitcher does this, it is like a rudder slowing things down.

Taller pitchers can get away with less then optimal mechanics more than shorter pitchers.

 

[RubberBiscuit]

Of the pitchers I have seen in my DD's 16U - 18U history:

I would guess 99% of the shorter pitchers, IF they pitch 60+ mph, they are "replanters". They have to to get the speed.

 

[dmaeganx2]

I have noticed my DD is 5'1 but has to have more of a 125 degree angle in her approach to 6 o'clock if not her wrist will hit her hip bone and as small as she is it hurts it sticks out like 1/2 inch meaning any straighter then that

that showed up as she started to work on IR and it is actually like 3 inches up from her wrist

 

[JAD]

Other than Amanda are there other top notch pitchers in the mid 5 foot range that I can be looking at?

Angela Tincher of VT was @ 5'-7" - someone already mentioned her.

Kelly Barnhill is 5'-8" and throws 70+ MPH and is considered the #1 2015 pitcher. She just verballed to Florida.

 

[Doug Romrell]

It's not often we run into 6'6" girls who are interested in pitching. THEREFORE, we take'em as they come--all shapes and sizes (tall, short, stocky, thin, and everything in-between). What matters most is determination to become good.

 

[Ken B]

It's not often we run into 6'6" girls who are interested in pitching. THEREFORE, we take'em as they come--all shapes and sizes (tall, short, stocky, thin, etc.). What matters most is determination to become good.

That pretty much covers it!


I'll add that I've worked with kids from itty bitty 7 year olds, to a girl just over 6 foot and they all seem to learn about the same way.

 

[Ken B]

When we work with Ken B. (who is 6 what Ken?? . . .4 or 5) and see the amazing whip he can generate it makes you wonder can a 5'6" pitcher ever have that same whip . . . not that they can't excel don't worry I'm not saying that.

6.4 and 3/4's