11" vs 12" speed difference

Curious what everyone has experienced going from 11/35 to 12/40 in regards to speed difference. DD is moving up to the 12 for school ball and will go back to the 11 in a few months.

Not that it matters much as I am hoping throwing the 12 for a couple months will boost her 11 speed but just wondered if there was a rule of thumb on the speed drop.

DD went from 48-49 mph cruise at 11/35 to 43-44 12/40. By the end of the first year 12 season she was at 47-49mph cruise speed with a high of 50. It's not so much the speed as even at 12U the girls can time a faster pitcher. Have movement/spin and a change, else it's easy to get hammered.

As Top_Notch found, a 5mph change is pretty typical.

Thanks for the feedback. That is exactly what DD experienced from 45-46 cruise with the 11 to 41 cruise with the 12. I'd had other, much less knowledgeable folks, tell me that 1-2 mph is all they saw.

You are certainly right with the spin comment - even at high B 10u. Hitters are getting better in this area for sure. DD has been working on mastering an OTT drop and because of the emphasis on spin has made her 2 and 4 seam FB much better - which really cut down the number of barreled-up balls. All the PCs around here preach strikeout pitching and we all know that gets harder as you age up. I like to use the word "efficient". Get out of an inning in 10-12 pitches and it really takes the wear and tear off.

Will tell DD she isn't outside the norm with the 5mph and to keep working on spins. Thanks for the feedback!

DD2 didn't seem to lose much speed when she went up to the 12" but her progress stalled if that makes sense. Instead of regressing, she just didn't gain any speed for quite a while. It sounds weird but that's what we saw.

Great question!

We made the switch for this year and the biggest problem was the size of DD's hands. She grew this year but at the time was 2" shorter and she still has rather small hands. Her fingers are slender but not long. Mom's fingers are fairly long but my fingers can barely pick a nose. Well, not that short but you get the picture.

Yes, a few mph were lost and the ball was wild for us. And we started with IR at that time. Quite the adjustment for DD but 10 months later, she is about 10 mph faster.

SS

My DD just picked up a 12" ball for first time last week. There was no difference in speed. With 11" she cruised around 44-45 and it has been the same with a 12". Her changeup looks way better with the 12". With the 11/35 she always threw her changeup to hard and it looked awkward because she was trying to slow it down. Now with the 12" her change motion looks more like her fastball and comes out almost perfect. I thought for sure her speed would change but so far it hasn't.

catmaster said:

Her changeup looks way better with the 12". With the 11/35 she always threw her changeup to hard and it looked awkward because she was trying to slow it down. Now with the 12" her change motion looks more like her fastball and comes out almost perfect. I thought for sure her speed would change but so far it hasn't.

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^^ Same experience here - DDs change and drop went from OK to devastating with the bigger ball. That's probably good because the hitters will probably go from OK to devastating at this level too

My guess would be 3-5 MPH drop for a month or two.

My DD dropped ~4mph for about two months, then got it back.