Front toss speed

How fast should the throw be in front toss? Wasn't sure if I should try to be a flame thrower (as much as I could try to be) or just a medium throw?

I generally throw about 80% of what I'm capable of (without windmill) from about 20 feet. Maybe 30-35MPH? I've never put a radar on my front toss.

When i was the one throwing front toss for my team, I would mix it up. Some hard, some not. Spinning right and left.

Distance makes a difference in the perception of speed as well. I downloaded this handy chart when I got my pocket radar to determine the correct speeds for my players.




When I would pitch to 12-15 players I would get closer as not to wear myself out as quickly. If it was just a few then I would back up an throw harder.

Right now I am just tossing to a 9 yr old so it's never really hard but I do need to get out my pocket radar and recheck my distance and speeds.

cbullard said:

How fast should the throw be in front toss? Wasn't sure if I should try to be a flame thrower (as much as I could try to be) or just a medium throw?

Click to expand...

Hard, flat and it should cross the plate somewhere slightly below the same speed at the division the team is playing in (not as fast since you are throwing closer than the pitching rubber so you want the reaction time to be about the same).

Most front toss is intended to be more like BP, so throw lots of strikes. Throw a weird one every now and then to keep them on their toes.

marriard said:

Hard, flat and it should cross the plate somewhere slightly below the same speed at the division the team is playing in (not as fast since you are throwing closer than the pitching rubber so you want the reaction time to be about the same).

Most front toss is intended to be more like BP, so throw lots of strikes. Throw a weird one every now and then to keep them on their toes.

Click to expand...

I just sat in a room with about 40 college coaches last week, and the msg was vary your front toss speed and location. Throw 3 pitches from one distance, then take 2 steps back and throw 3 more, then take 3 steps forward and throw three more, etc. If you're only throwing meatballs in front toss, then your hitters are only going to be good at hitting meatballs in games. They also said that you shouldn't be throwing "feel good BP" just prior to a game. You should be preparing the players for what they are going to see.

Depends on what you're working on...Manny and Tejada are accomplished hitters and are not looking for blazing speed in the shortened video above (full ones below).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82Cd_LNQSgc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WuLmOel-tM

If sequence is an issue I'm not so sure speed is your friend...

For the stuff DD2 and I are working on in the DBSF thread, I never throw fast and I'm only 15 feet away...I had her hit off the machine last night and had it set at 45mph from 40 feet...not fast at all...CP

Good point Chris....are you working on a mechanical issue, or are you working on timing and pitch recognition.

Great feedback everyone. My DD starts with an open stance. So, we are working on the timing of getting that front foot down and exploding from there. I wasn't sure how fast to throw it as I didn't want her to feel rushed.

We use front toss the way Manny is above. It's about owning your swing and the result. The next step beyond tee work. You should be able to hit line drives that have me flinching behind my screen 50% of the time if not more. If you can't do that, or if you are having consistent issues like early/pull/hook results, then your ability to groove your swing and ultimately hit a real pitcher trying to get you out won't be all it can be.

Keep in mind that different balls travel at different speeds. When I pitch a seamed softball it's about 30 mph. A TCB hole ball is 25 and a Jugs Bulldog wiffle is 22. I could not clock a regular TCB.

The difference isn't my arm speed, it is the rate at which items in flight decelerate due to its weight, air resistance etc.

Try this: use a pitcher with a known speed or a pitching machine with a known speed from a "normal for your age" speed and regulation distance. Then, right along side of that, set up your normal "close" front toss distance and synchronize the release of both machine and the front tosser. Check and see if the two balls hit the area of the plate at the same time to test your front toss "speed" or more accurately the hitters reaction time.

I found out a couple years ago that I was simulating D1 college pitching speeds for 10u hitters. Far from ideal.