Two different but somewhat related subjects.
I own a Pocket Radar gun and take it to all the games. I have compared my gun against 3 other guns, and it was the same or +/-1 every time so I feel that what I am posting is pretty accurate.
I have had my gun on 14A (local and regional teams) and 14B teams. I have probably had my gun out against 70 teams this spring. We are a low level 14u A team - did not play in many huge tournaments but we saw a handful of regional teams. My observations:
*Clocked 2 girls who threw 60 mph consistently. Neither one was that impressive as a pitcher. They each threw a grand total of one change up then just threw fast balls the rest of the time. They were certainly successful against our team, but they were just hurlers. Of course, why throw a change up when you are blowing it by everyone? On the other hand, you are not growing as a pitcher if you only have one pitch.
*Clocked 3 or so girls at 58-59. One was very impressive with a variety of pitches.
*It was no shock to see a 55+ mph pitcher on a 14u A team. I would say 57 mph and up are the more unusual ones - and the ones that give our team lots of trouble.
I was always the most impressed by the real pitchers who had a variety of pitches and did not just rely on speed.
This leads me to Rita Lynn's posted speed numbers. By my account, I have clocked 8 of her pitchers this spring and generally get 4+ MPH slower readings.
First number is Rita Lynn's posted speed. Second number is what I got (from right behind the backstop. No angle)
63 57
60 57
63 58
62 54
56 52
57 53
56 51
58 53
Is Rita Lynn's the same type of gun they use for speeds on EPSN for the college games? If so, my daughter is a lot faster than I thought.
At least how my daughter works, she generally pitches no less than 2 mph off her max. She will generally hit her max a few times in a game. So if you were to gun her for 5 fast balls, you would see her pretty close or right at her max. I am assuming that the other girls work that way too. Maybe not.
One story
A few years ago, while at Home Depot, I ran into a dad of a girl we used to play with at 10u , and she was a fast, stud pitcher at 10u. She went to travel before we did so I had not seen her play in 2 years. At Home Depot, dad said maybe 1 out of 10 pitches she threw now was 60 mph. I was impressed!! Saw the same girl a few months later at a tournament - 42 to 43 mph. The first time I thought "oh a change up" - but that was not the case. Learned my lesson on that one!
Unfortunately for me, if asked, I will give the actual speed of my daughter. And in the other person's head, they will subtract 4-5 mph. Oh well!
I own a Pocket Radar gun and take it to all the games. I have compared my gun against 3 other guns, and it was the same or +/-1 every time so I feel that what I am posting is pretty accurate.
I have had my gun on 14A (local and regional teams) and 14B teams. I have probably had my gun out against 70 teams this spring. We are a low level 14u A team - did not play in many huge tournaments but we saw a handful of regional teams. My observations:
*Clocked 2 girls who threw 60 mph consistently. Neither one was that impressive as a pitcher. They each threw a grand total of one change up then just threw fast balls the rest of the time. They were certainly successful against our team, but they were just hurlers. Of course, why throw a change up when you are blowing it by everyone? On the other hand, you are not growing as a pitcher if you only have one pitch.
*Clocked 3 or so girls at 58-59. One was very impressive with a variety of pitches.
*It was no shock to see a 55+ mph pitcher on a 14u A team. I would say 57 mph and up are the more unusual ones - and the ones that give our team lots of trouble.
I was always the most impressed by the real pitchers who had a variety of pitches and did not just rely on speed.
This leads me to Rita Lynn's posted speed numbers. By my account, I have clocked 8 of her pitchers this spring and generally get 4+ MPH slower readings.
First number is Rita Lynn's posted speed. Second number is what I got (from right behind the backstop. No angle)
63 57
60 57
63 58
62 54
56 52
57 53
56 51
58 53
Is Rita Lynn's the same type of gun they use for speeds on EPSN for the college games? If so, my daughter is a lot faster than I thought.
At least how my daughter works, she generally pitches no less than 2 mph off her max. She will generally hit her max a few times in a game. So if you were to gun her for 5 fast balls, you would see her pretty close or right at her max. I am assuming that the other girls work that way too. Maybe not.
One story
A few years ago, while at Home Depot, I ran into a dad of a girl we used to play with at 10u , and she was a fast, stud pitcher at 10u. She went to travel before we did so I had not seen her play in 2 years. At Home Depot, dad said maybe 1 out of 10 pitches she threw now was 60 mph. I was impressed!! Saw the same girl a few months later at a tournament - 42 to 43 mph. The first time I thought "oh a change up" - but that was not the case. Learned my lesson on that one!
Unfortunately for me, if asked, I will give the actual speed of my daughter. And in the other person's head, they will subtract 4-5 mph. Oh well!