Moving from 11" to 12" ball

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Feb 14, 2014
160
16
How did your dds' adjustment from using an 11" ball to 12" ball go? Dd11 just finished her 10u all star season and is looking for a 12u TB team. Her catching/hitting instructor uses 12"s, so she's been working with them some. I'm just curious how long it takes them to get used to the difference and if we should be working on anything at home other than our usual drills.


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Screwball
Dec 18, 2014
512
63
Just finishing up our first year 12U season. I had the same concern as you did...just a year ago. DD didn't have any problems making the adjustment. Seemed like the 5' distance caused a bigger issues with her pitch accuracy. But within two weeks she was back to her old self. Took all year to regain the same speed of the smaller ball though. DD threw a no-hitter at the end of season state tournament so something is working.
 
Jun 12, 2015
3,848
83
We're going into 12U this fall but played in several 12U tournaments over the spring. DD's a pitcher & she does fine w/ the 12". Our whole team adjusted pretty well, even beat a few 12U teams. I'm really not that worried about it.
 
Jun 5, 2012
38
8
Ontario, Canada
My experience has been that it's a matter of days to adjust although in Canada the ball transition is at U14 so the hands are bigger by that point.
DS was a first year U12 and an emergency call up player for a U14 provincial playdown qualifier. The regular pitcher was hit by a line drive and had to leave the game and the other pitcher was also hurt so DS (also a pitcher) had to come in. That was his first time throwing with a 12" ball and from 5 extra feet. He bounced the first three warmups off the plate then he made the adjustment. I asked him when he came off what he thought about the larger ball and the new distance. His response: "Was it farther? I just thought I needed to throw the big ball harder." He's not too observant but definitely resilient.
Kids can adjust far quicker and more easily than we are prepared to give them credit for.

Edit: Oops, I see OP wasn't referring to pitching. Still, the adjustment in all facets of the game happens pretty quickly.
 
Last edited:
May 20, 2016
433
63
Kids are pretty amazing at adapting to something new. My DD pitches and will switch from an 11 to a 12 without much issue. She plays 12U travel and 10U rec. Funny part is she will pitch 10U rec tonight and then doing tryouts for 12U tomorrow.

Thought it would be a rougher transition but i was wrong.
 
May 7, 2008
8,506
48
Tucson
I don't even mention it. I just give them the 12 inch balls. Remember, it is all that we had, for decades. The transition takes about 5 minutes.
For pitching, I often use the 12s, I just keep the distance the same.
For fun, I have them warm up with a 16 inch ball, and then, a 14. Hand them the 12s and they will feel like a baseball.
 
Jul 19, 2014
2,390
48
Madison, WI
For DD 3 the big difference was pitching.

She started pitching 2nd year of 10U, and learned on 12" balls. She played up at 12U in Little League that year, and pitched occasionally. Towards the end of the year, she made the 10U all-star team, so she had to pitch with the 11" balls. That completely threw her off. We finally got her to stop pitching 12" balls until the all-star season was over.
 
Feb 17, 2014
551
28
When we started the transition, DD throw a 12 inch Mon-Wed and went back to 11 inch Thur-Sun. She had no issues. There are exceptions, but I don't believe most kids have any issues. They might be slower, but that's expected with the bigger ball and the mound distance.

I wouldn't stress over it.
 
Jan 28, 2017
1,662
83
10 year old DD played 12U this year and pitched well without any issues at 40 ft. I think she threw harder with the 12 inch ball. We have worked at 43 feet since she was 9. Had more problems throwing overhand. Also, moved down for one tournament and didn't throw nearly as well at 35 and with the 11' ball.
 

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