No problem That woman has a huge swing. She would embarrass the heck out of me in a HR derby as mine barely reached the grass.
Wouldn't believe it, if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes
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No problem That woman has a huge swing. She would embarrass the heck out of me in a HR derby as mine barely reached the grass.
- Mar 28, 2016
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Did you notice that it was the first time it had been done in the teams 26 year history?
Are we really going to compare Slowpitch distances to Fastpitch distances. Anyone who has played both games (man or woman) knows you can hit slowpitch much further. You load up and get maximum extension. There is no time to do that in fastpitch.
I'm dropping out of this discussion because there is no point to it.
No point in it because you can't admit it is possible? No point in it just because you possibly do not have the concentration of big hitters around your area that would give you a chance to see it happen? No one said it is a regular occurrence but it can and does happen. With the technology in the bats and girls training year round they are hitting harder and farther than ever.
I agree that it isn't happening with 10/12yo's. I just don't like to see someone come on and belittle another poster for telling us something he has witnessed. Then turn around and tell others it can't be done.
- Nov 18, 2013
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It's hard for me to imagine a ball going 265’ at 10U, but when DD played it was B rec ball and nobody had composite bats. I’ll admit my frame of reference for 10U is considerably skewed. While watching her in college I’ve seen quite a few monster HR’s hit at least 250’. A few in that 265’-285’ range and only one that possibly went 300’. For anyone who doesn’t know DD is a pitcher so monster HR’s aren’t so much fun. This is from pretty much just watching one team so in the vast world of softball there’s probably plenty of 300’ HR’s. When you get into that 325’+ range though I’ll concede it’s possible, although highly unlikely.
However far they’re going, hitting it over the fence is a pretty big accomplishment. They all count as one run so congrats to anyone who’s kid can do that.
However far they’re going, hitting it over the fence is a pretty big accomplishment. They all count as one run so congrats to anyone who’s kid can do that.
The fence is 325'. as to the rest of your question, you're very close to the right answer but not in the way you may think. There's two pieces of knowledge to this story that you need to know. I'll try and be as brief as possible. Piece #1 As I alluded to earlier, this was in a TB league. It's a HS aged league 14U-18U and no actual age groups. In other words, if you brought a true 14U team, there's always the possibility of playing an 18U team. There are also several HS teams that sign-up and play the Summer there because it's really inexpensive to play a double-header once a week for 10 weeks.
Piece #2 SlowPitch youth rec leagues are still very much alive in my area. There were many more when we started but there are still 5 very active ones. They play SP through 12U and at 13, they have the choice of going 14U FP or stay in SP. For those that were a member on here before me or joined around the same time I did, you might remember that DD came up through one of those as well as the other player I mentioned although a few years ahead of us.. The major advantages IMO to coming up through SP is that since most batters put the ball in play, the fielders get far more reps at fielding positions and are more advanced fielders at their age through game experience. The other one is, since bunting isn't allowed, it's all about the hitting and as [MENTION=332]sluggers3[/MENTION] agrees with, we taught our girls proper mechanics, power, worked constantly on increasing bat speed and told them to swing for the fence time and time again. The biggest disadvantage about the players having to wait to first year 14U as I'm sure you can imagine, is the lack of development of pitchers and catchers.
Now to put these tow pieces together. In the TB/HS league, one of the HS teams that plays every year is from a very impoverished part of the next city over (about 30 minutes away). Since no one can afford TB from the community, and all FP rec leagues around our area are area specific, one of the 5 remaining SP rec leagues I mentioned earlier has become their de facto feeder program. Basically what they have been doing is taking their SP pitchers and adding the windmill to the step-out SP pitching motion and letting them go. Their philosophy is to rely on defense and their speed for offense.
The HS team's pitchers are throwing around an 8' or so arc, maybe maxing out at 45 mph speed wise maybe 48 tops and pitching it down the heart of the plate for the most part. As I'm sure you've speculated, their OF plays really deep since there's no te,portray fence and all of them are very, very fast with good gloves and arms. Their infield is also very solid. They actually do a good job hanging in there most games and occasionally beat some very good TB teams when those teams are flat for whatever reason. Anyway, after playing TB and facing faster pitching for many years, it seemed to be SP again for her. the pitching speed was exactly what she needed to get the ball that far. Slow enough where she 'load up and swing from her rear' as you put it and just enough speed to give the bat the needed trampoline effect. All 3 came during games against that HS team (although I use the term game loosely).
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Thank you for this. However, I have a very thick skin so it really doesn't bother me. Growing up, DD was in the top 99% growth percentile according to her pediatrician. Can you imagine having a 4 YO (48 months and 48"tall at the time of the Dr.s visit) that's 48 pounds? That's always the way she was until probably 15YO. Then she slowed down a bit.
Depending upon the age group of rec ball, can you imagine how many times I was asked for her birth certificate at All-Stars tournamnets?! I distinctly remember a parent shouting in the stands! "Really, she"s 12?! She probably drove herself to the tournament!" From the 3rd base coaching position, I calmly looked at him and said, "Actually, she's only 11." And had the birth certificate to prove it.
ETA: NM
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- Feb 15, 2016
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Actually, I do. I just don't give a $h!t
Interesting. You seem to care a lot. You are probably the board leader in words per post. 10U HR distance is completely meaningless. A nice random topic but means nothing...
- Feb 15, 2017
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It goes back to that shovel thing mentioned earlier....
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