- Dec 27, 2014
- 311
- 18
Her release, is she trying to float a riseball here?
9 YO Throwing 60
- Thread starter Sting Ray
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Not sure ??? It looks like what CoachJames was talking about... running out of gas @ 32'
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This girl wasn't one of the bigger girls at 10U and that trend has continued to 12U. In her case it could be a case of the bigger ball and further distance. Could be overuse resulting in bad mechanics as well. I've never seen this team play a game where the girl hasn't pitched.
- Jun 12, 2015
- 3,848
- 83
We did a field test today on it and it was right on. Exact or within 1 mph every time but one which was 3 mph off.
Not exactly sure why, but I have my theories.
1. Hitters get better. Throwing heat down the middle, a lot of 10u girls will swing late and you can over power weaker hitters. As you age up, more and more girls can clobber that heat. By the time you get to 14u I assume heat down the middle is a nice jog around the bases.
2. Sometimes pitchers who can strike kids out with heat only, learn to throw heat only and never develop confidence to throw other pitches. I see it a lot now in my daughters 10u games. Girls who can get people out with fastballs don't throw change ups. They go with what works. Sometimes you even get coaches who are calling pitches go with what works to win. So instead of developing as a pitcher, they develop as a thrower. Then see #1.
- Jun 12, 2015
- 3,848
- 83
I've noticed some of that already just looking at 1st year 10U v. 2nd year, or A v. B. DD is playing B this year but we're still picking up for A teams in between. In our first B tourney this year she had 21 strikeouts. AC was just calling fast balls over the plate because they couldn't catch up to her and she's not even high end for speed (low to mid 40s). Many of the A players will knock those to the fence though; she's got to get her location right with those. And I've noticed pitchers who played mostly first year teams last year who were strike out queens, and this year playing 2nd year they're getting clobbered. I imagine when we add those extra 5 feet next year, the strike outs get harder and harder to come by.
I'm convinced it is the increased distance in 12U. That extra 5 feet is huge. The strongest 10U pitchers were able to dominate all but the best teams from 35 feet using just speed. Not a lot of incentive for short sighted coaches to develop any other pitches if a girl is anywhere around or over 50 mph in 10U. Back those pitchers up to 40 feet and give them a bigger ball and they slow down a little initially, but most are back to speed fairly quickly. Except from 5 feet further back and faced with bigger, better hitters, a girl just throwing 50-52 gas only gets rocked in 12U. It can make it even tougher on a pitcher, because that also reveals which teams have defensive holes that you never saw in 10U because not much got put in play. Even girls that are hovering around 55mph are getting hit consistently by average A teams. The ones who become more successful are the ones who start to figure out the importance of changing speeds, movement, hitting spots, inducing ground ball outs, etc.
- Jun 14, 2016
- 270
- 0
My dd was pitching in 14u b last year and averaged around 7 strikeouts a game with speeds in the upper 50's. She is playing 16u gold ball this fall and they mostly play 18u. It has definitely been a learning experience for her. She now feels slow with her pitching and the strikeouts are much harder to come by. She is lucky to get 2 a game but she gets the outs by pop outs and ground balls because she is using location and movement. There are more hits off of her but I told her she is facing much better batters so it was to be expected. I think in the long run this will make her a much better pitcher.
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