How fast to first base????

SoCalDad said:

My top 14U players home to first time is about 3 seconds. I consider anything under 3.2 to be fast and 3.3 - 3.5 to be the average. Anything over 3.5 would be slow. For a 9 YO I would add about a second to these times. On the low end your DD's speed would be considered average and on the high end slow.

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DITTO.....would also like to add that anyone who runs a sub 3.0 second home to first is FAST!!! Fastest players we have seen run @ 2.8 in A-level 14U TB. Clocking a girls time is a little like hand timing football players in a 40-yard dash - a coach can cut the time significantly with a late start trigger and quick finish trigger, so take everyone's claimed speeds with a grain of salt.

Also - some coaches time home to first with a simulated swing, while others use a runners stance from the batters box, so all times are subjective. Girls who start from the left handed batters box also have a two step advantage.

Our second year 14U team has been working on speed and quickness drills since the fall, and I probably time them home to first every practice just to show them how much they are improving.

The way I time them is that they all stand in the RH batter's box, I tell them to go, and I start the clock when their first foot hits the ground, and then stop obviously when they hit the bag.

Our average time just dropped to 2.95, with a range of 2.68 to 3.18. I've seen the different ways of timing, particularly soft toss/bunt and go, so a lot of the differences are in how you time the start. The main thing I'm looking for is showing how they improve, so as long as I'm consistent with how I time it, I get a read on that and on who is the fastest and slowest.

As for how these numbers compare to how it looks in real life -- I'd say my two fastest players are two of the fastest players we've played, so I don't think 2.68 overly exaggerates their speed. Our players in the 3.00+ are what i would consider average to slow. Put another way, I think if I timed using the bunt/soft toss, I'd add about .20 to their times.

mtnbama said:

As for how these numbers compare to how it looks in real life -- I'd say my two fastest players are two of the fastest players we've played, so I don't think 2.68 overly exaggerates their speed. Our players in the 3.00+ are what i would consider average to slow. Put another way, I think if I timed using the bunt/soft toss, I'd add about .20 to their times.

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I understand your logic of "as long as your are consistent" you can measure improvement, but I would not give out these numbers to others. Here is a chart showing the times of the Olympic softball team - including Natasha Watley.

Home to 1st (righty) Home to 1st (lefty) 2nd to Home Home to Home
Slow Above 3.0 Above 3.0 Above 6sec Above 12.5sec
Average 3.0 sec 2.7 - 2.8 5.75 sec 11.50 - 12.00
Good 2.8 sec 2.5 - 2.6 5.3 - 5.5 11.00 - 11.3
Great 2.6 sec 2.3 - 2.4* 5.2 or lower 10.8 or lower
* Natasha Watley - US Olympic Team


Softball Excellence

Sorry to break your bubble but all NFCA camps are posted for college coaches. No one is as fast as you guys are posting. It is timed in the 40 without a swing an using a electronic timer, not a stop watch. Google it. DD was the second fastest time at the Queen of Diamonds out of hundreds of kids at 2.84. I have talked to Natasha and have watched her and some of the best slappers in the world, and I have only seen one kid in college beat her time. DD got to work and talk to Laura Berg , who was another very fast slapper US Olympic Team . If you want to learn speed work with Marc , who has his own thread on this forum. He is very good and we learned a bunch at his clinic. There is more than speed involved. Quickness is what Marc will teach you.

I think DD turned in a 3.58 indoors on a gym floor at a camp in December. I'll have to ask her if they did a simulated swing. As I say, she's not very fast, but I was hoping they'd time her again in January so I could see what affect the speed and agility training has had. Unfortunately, I didn't see a home-first time listed on her January sheet. Maybe next time!

It sounds like others have had pretty dramatic quantifiable improvements in team running speed.

Most camps don't use a simulated swing. They want to see how fast you are, so no advantage being a lefty. It is about pure speed so they can see how fast you can run from first to second ! So everyone is in the same boat. I think there is roughly 500 plus players a year based in different camps around the US. They measure speed, bat speed , pop time for catchers, and all the different pitchers a pitcher throws, Plus outfield throws , BMI and bat speed. You must be selected based on guidelines such as GPA. The two we attended had College coaches bumping into each other ! Just a little bragging but DD finished third in BMI in the nation in 2011. 89.4% impressive for a female.

Ok, that can't be the same BMI that my doctor talks about, where my number should be lower than it is. What does that stand for?

BMI is Body Mass Index, which basically calculates the fat content of your body. Most people give their reading as the percent fat, which would mean lower is better, but it can also be read as a non-fat percentage, which is what I believe SBFAMILY was doing at 89.4%, which would be 10.6% body fat.

SoCalDad said:

My top 14U players home to first time is about 3 seconds. I consider anything under 3.2 to be fast and 3.3 - 3.5 to be the average. Anything over 3.5 would be slow. For a 9 YO I would add about a second to these times. On the low end your DD's speed would be considered average and on the high end slow.

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Isn't that a bit fast for the age group, to consider anything above 3.2 average? Most girls are closer to 3.75-4.0 at this point. If you're talking elite 14u teams, where only the fastest girls are on the team, maybe. But, aren't we talking "average"?