Developing proper mechanics then working hard on speeding them up can do wonders. Just for info purposes, when talking about pitching speed for boys, you're undoubtedly referring to baseball. I've been clocking softball pitchers since the 90s. This includes a large number of male softball pitchers from the age of 12 to world class men. I can count on one hand the number of adult male pitchers who threw in the 80-84 mph range. This includes Adam Folkard who threw low 80s at age 18 at a world junior championship. He was way above anyone else in that tournament. American pitchers that I clocked at that tournament were throwing high 60s. This past summer, I have clocked the top u18 boys in Canada and only one of them threw in the low 70s. The rest threw in the 63-68 mph range. I'm now working with a few 14 year old boys who throw high 50s to low 60s. Speeds of 61 to 65 mph at age 15-16 for boys is not exceptional but is considered high level. As for speed increases per year for males, one of my 14 year boys went from 48 to 54 to 63 mph in the last 3 years. The others are first year pitchers so I have no real data on their progress yet. One last note, I'm sometimes amazed at how hard some of these girls can throw at a young age. Also, don't necessarily trust the speed readings on the scoreboard of some of the softball complexes in college ball. Some have speed equipment that seem to be on steroids by 3 to 4 mph for some reason. And no, both of my radar guns are not slow.
Speed progression - for those that have been there
- Thread starter mleber
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BLB.....your speeds for men/boys correlate to what I get and have seen. Funny you mention fan friendly scoreboards.....one of my lady students was at a tourney this past weekend playing at USF stadium. This young lady is a legit 63 mph game speed thrower.....the scoreboard hit 67 mph, then 69 mph, and finally 71 mph. Wow, at the home field of our National Team Coach. I would think that would be the one scoreboard in the country that might be accurate.....guess I was wrong.
Others who know more can chime in... Increase arm speed, increase leg drive, increase front side resistance, get more whip via good internal rotation, do core and shoulder strengthening, do long toss, use crispr technology to splice in key DNA strands from all star MLB and US national team pitchers.
- Aug 24, 2018
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DD has also become obsessed with speed. She is a 14YO freshman. Went into winter workouts throwing 50 consistently and came out throwing 55 consistently. 57 is her short term goal.
Most of her gains were from improving push off. PC says the rest is in her head.
She is really strong, so it took a while to get her to stop muscling up for speed.
She wants to throw long toss every day after JV practice and before going to the gym. My main job lately is to keep her from overuse injuries....
Most of her gains were from improving push off. PC says the rest is in her head.
She is really strong, so it took a while to get her to stop muscling up for speed.
She wants to throw long toss every day after JV practice and before going to the gym. My main job lately is to keep her from overuse injuries....
... and eat your spinach.
My 11 year old has been stuck around 50 for almost a year. I'm not concerned. In fact, haven't clocked her in 4-5 months. I plan to tomorrow, as the weather is warmer and it's been a while.
Her dropball and curve are inconsistent, but the fastball has natural movement and the change is solid. Her success (for now) comes from location mostly. But we'd love more speed.
Her dropball and curve are inconsistent, but the fastball has natural movement and the change is solid. Her success (for now) comes from location mostly. But we'd love more speed.
- May 27, 2013
- 2,385
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For my dd (18U - not growing anymore), developing her glutes and doing strength training that improved her core and balanced out her upper body strength truly helped this past winter. We found a really great trainer who works with mostly baseball players but he did some research and developed a very specific program for her. He also is extremely enthusiastic and positive so dd loves going to workout just to be in that environment. I have definitely noticed a couple of mph increase and crisper movement pitches from her now. Definitely hard to come by as she is done growing.
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