My DD is a 2nd year 12U pitcher. She is pretty good and she is getting lots of invites to play 14U every week she is off. She has done it before and she seems to do pretty well against the older kids. The only thing I noticed is she tends to throw high in her first game back at 40'. I am curious as to what some of your experiences that have been thru this already are? Trying to figure out the pros and cons of going back and forth between 40 and 43' are.
12U Pitcher 14U Guest Play
- Thread starter BrianTx01
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We dealt with this quite a bit several years ago. DD wasn’t fond of the extra distance - she didn’t like giving up speed and yes, her mechanics suffered as she tried to compensate for the longer distance.
She played 14s for a couple tourneys, then stopped.
Question: what benefit is your DD getting from playing up? Why consider it to begin with?
She played 14s for a couple tourneys, then stopped.
Question: what benefit is your DD getting from playing up? Why consider it to begin with?
If she can hold her own at 14U, why are you holding her back at 12U? Sounds like time to go to 14U and up her game.
She is really young 2008 and she likes her team. When they do get to play in 12A tournaments the competition is pretty good. It is a matter of playing 14B or 12B (or playing USA which pretty much has no classification system in these parts) in these parts. She is still classified as a 12B in USSSA.
She has done it before and done pretty well but when she is playing in USA during the fall it is 6th graders vs sophmores.
My daughter is playing up from 12U to 14U this year. She was on a 12B team but very few girls could hit her and the defense frustrated her. She's getting much more challenge at 14A (non PGF) and some good experience needing to rely on more than a fastball and occasional change. I haven't noticed any issue when we were moving back and forth on distances. Maybe a little more focus needed to locate a curve or change and a bit more challenge hitting spots but mechanics are pretty much the same so she found the transition pretty easy after a few pitches to recalibrate.
- Nov 18, 2013
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12A to 14B is actually playing down. They might be older, but they’re less skilled. Stick to 12A or move up to 14A if she wants better competition and more skilled teammates. Best of luck on her journey.
Sounds like she really is kind of on the border of whether or not she can truly hang in 14s. I'd find the best 12u A team you can fine or some bigger organizations will have a 13u birth year team that plays up in 14uA so the actual jump in age and maturity isn't so much for her.
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She is going to play 14B USA this weekend. So my 6th grader will be going up against some sandbagging sophmores. I guess I will see how it goes. She wanted to play and this is what was available.
One thing I noticed is the sandbagging is getting less and less effective. The sophmores playing 14U in USA Fall season don't have near the advantage that the 8th graders playing 12U USA Fall. They really don't have much of a size advantage anymore.
One thing I noticed is the sandbagging is getting less and less effective. The sophmores playing 14U in USA Fall season don't have near the advantage that the 8th graders playing 12U USA Fall. They really don't have much of a size advantage anymore.
What sophomore can still play 14U? Sophomores are typically 15 and 16 years old.
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