9 YO Throwing 60

[riseball]

A study has shown that a baseball will lose about 1mph of velocity for every 7ft of distance traveled. When asked about a softball since it is bigger and will be more affected by friction the author replied with since the softball is heavier it also loses about 1mph for 7ft of travel. This may be where the add 5mph to a pitch comes from with the slow radars .

The reduction of speed after release is significantly affected by spin rate. Losing 1 mph for every 7ft in softball indicates a very weak spin rate. A pitcher with great spin (> 30rps) will lose 10mph or more from release to final velocity, which is the reason for the "late break" often observed in elite pitchers.

 

[Perfect Circle]

I'll be seeing it, just got PM'd... I understand... I know full grown men who cry about being posted !!! I'll put my PC Timer to MPH on it...

 

[3bmama]

I don't know about actual speeds but I know my eyes. There was a girl my dd played in 10U who could just hurl that 11inch ball from 35 ft. If I'm guessing it was a good 5 mph faster than my daughter who was in the top 1/4 in our area for speed, I'd say. Now that the second year of 12U has started this flamethrower probably isn't even in the top half for speed and is nowhere close to matching the eye test she passed at 10u

 

[bmd]

I'll be seeing it, just got PM'd... I understand... I know full grown men who cry about being posted !!! I'll put my PC Timer to MPH on it...

Pc timer to mph??? Seriously? How do you do that?

 

[3bmama]

The reduction of speed after release is significantly affected by spin rate. Losing 1 mph for every 7ft in softball indicates a very weak spin rate. A pitcher with great spin (> 30rps) will lose 10mph or more from release to final velocity, which is the reason for the "late break" often observed in elite pitchers.

Thank you for this! My daughter and another pitcher on her team were clocked at the exact same speed when throwing fastballs but the other girl always seems to be coming in so much harder. Now I know it's bc her pitches come in on a straight line while the strength of my dd has always been the movement of her pitches.

 

[DRDRODD]

The reduction of speed after release is significantly affected by spin rate. Losing 1 mph for every 7ft in softball indicates a very weak spin rate. A pitcher with great spin (> 30rps) will lose 10mph or more from release to final velocity, which is the reason for the "late break" often observed in elite pitchers.

Thanks Riseball. That makes since the article I was referring to was a study of overhand throwing velocity. They probably did mentioned spin somewhere in the article and I just overlooked it. I am assuming that the pitch that was recorded was a fastball which I think would be comparable to an OHT but I do not know anything about pitching.

 

[ornelas85]

I don't know about actual speeds but I know my eyes. There was a girl my dd played in 10U who could just hurl that 11inch ball from 35 ft. If I'm guessing it was a good 5 mph faster than my daughter who was in the top 1/4 in our area for speed, I'd say. Now that the second year of 12U has started this flamethrower probably isn't even in the top half for speed and is nowhere close to matching the eye test she passed at 10u

I'm curious as to why the flamethrower is not as dominate in 12u. Bad mechanics, stopped growing, 12" softball, distance?
The pattern of kids not being as dominate in 12u as they were in 10u seems to happen more often than not. Why?

 

[riseball]

Thank you for this! My daughter and another pitcher on her team were clocked at the exact same speed when throwing fastballs but the other girl always seems to be coming in so much harder. Now I know it's bc her pitches come in on a straight line while the strength of my dd has always been the movement of her pitches.

Sounds like bullet spin to me!

 

[Eric F]

I'm curious as to why the flamethrower is not as dominate in 12u. Bad mechanics, stopped growing, 12" softball, distance?
The pattern of kids not being as dominate in 12u as they were in 10u seems to happen more often than not. Why?

The loss of speed from the larger ball and the additional pitching distance tips the advantage back towards the batters a bit. Additionally, the 10U flame-throwers are typically at the extreme end for size in 10U, but don't grow much more after that. Girls that are average-size at 10U often have their biggest growth spurts during 12U, and may continue to grow into 14U, which also reduces the pitcher's former advantage.

The best pitchers in 12U aren't generally blowing people away with great speed. They are developing the skills they will need in the future - control, movement, and changes of speed.

 

[ornelas85]

The loss of speed from the larger ball and the additional pitching distance tips the advantage back towards the batters a bit. Additionally, the 10U flame-throwers are typically at the extreme end for size in 10U, but don't grow much more after that. Girls that are average-size at 10U often have their biggest growth spurts during 12U, and may continue to grow into 14U, which also reduces the pitcher's former advantage.

Size makes me nervous for my little one.
Her mom is 5'1" and I'm only 5'8". She is 4'9" 90lbs and 10.5, this is her 1st year in 10u.
She is also one of those flamethrowers. Makes me sick thinking her best years might just be in 10u, sick...