Pitching faster

Been long tossing with DD in offseason for several years and will testify to the difference it has made, although we did it more for mechanics. At 10u a pitch can be off a few inches at 35’ and still be a decent pitch - get back to 70’ and all of a sudden its 6 feet wide.

We did some long toss tonight and I tested the distances listed above. In the middle of the process I got to thinking about the arc on the pitch. DD hovers around 50 but at 100 ft was bouncing them at about 92-95 feet when she kept the arc to a peak of about 8ft. When she hit an arc peak of about 12ft she could get it out to about 110-115. What say the experts- does arc even matter? I guess there is a point where too much is too much and it falls out of the sky.

Thoughts on how high the highest point should be??

coachbubbles said:

Thoughts on how high the highest point should be??

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Great to hear and I am definitely not one of the experts but Rick Pauly certainly is. Below is his information that will likely answer your question and I should have posted it earlier. It is in the "speed training drills tab at the following link: Free Softball Material

3.Our method instructs the pitcher to throw the ball as high in the air as they can because this will typically be your longest throw also. As a matter of fact we want the pitchers to throw the ball 15—20 feet higher than the backstop and over the backstop. Most intermediate level pitchers should be able to do this from second base. The pitchers that successfully at least hit the backstop then step back another 5 feet and make another throw; again attempting on every throw to get it 15-20 feet higher than and over the backstop. As long as the pitcher can hit even the bottom of the backstop they are allowed to go back another 5 feet for another throw…..etc., etc., etc.
4. When the pitcher throws high you will note that their landing posture is tilted back behind vertical-----this is great since your pitcher should land tilted back on every pitch they throw regardless of drop, rise, curve, changeup, etc. Related to this you will also note that pitchers that don’t land with the backward tilted posture can’t throw the ball very far….of course not their mechanics are incorrect.
5.The second key is to use a riseball grip and spin when throwing distance. There are a few good reasons for doing this: 1) a riseball spin will travel farther than a dropball spin, 2) you must be strong to overcome the centrifugal force of the ball when your fingers are cupped under it like a riseball. Therefore, it strengthens your grip more than if you just grip dropball/fastball, and 3) it will improve your riseball faster than any other drill you can do.

Thank you!! Good information that really makes perfect sense, even after reading it the first time. I’ll keep testing this out and see how far she can actually go. Probably need to get the pocket radar out again as the naked eye tells me she has picked up speed.

MNDad said:

If your DD wants to play in college the camps one of the best investments you can make. You PC coach is absolutely right that they want to see progress. Skip the week long ones that cost several hundred dollars and go for the one day camps. If a girl is throwing near 60 and/or has great spin, location and change of speeds she’ll get noticed.

If coaches only cared about girls that are 6’2” and throwing 65 the recruiting process would have been a whole lot easier. When they give other kids more attention 9 times out of 10 it’s because the other kids are just plain better. One of the hardest things for us parents to face during the recruiting process is realizing our DD’s aren’t quite as unique as we think. Colleges have dozens if not hundreds of pitchers to choose from who are faster, have greater movement, control and change of speeds. They’re not going to pass on a girl that can legit pitch at the D1 level just because she’s topping out at 59 mph or stands 5’4”. If they’re not interested its due to something else, and that could be anything.

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Thanks for taking the time to respond! I value your opinion. I am not a pitching coach but I can evaluate what I saw. My kid is not even the best pitcher in her organization but she clearly out classed all other kids at the camp. Parents were asking who she was and I was keeping quite. All the love went to the big girls. I get it, they have to asses potential more than performance. That said my DD was virtually unhittable and got the "good job, come back and see us when you can hit 63, you're good but not as good as the girls who got hit around but threw 63".
In HS DD was a freshman last year and there was senior who threw gas and was 6' 1". Coach gave them both equal time in practice and scrimmages but when it came time to pick his starter he went with DD. He told her "you don't throw as hard but you get girls out". She rewarded him with a 20 win season and trip to semis in states.
Just wish my kid were 6 inches taller
Hell I wish I was 6 inches taller too

BT3100 said:

Thanks for taking the time to respond! I value your opinion. I am not a pitching coach but I can evaluate what I saw. My kid is not even the best pitcher in her organization but she clearly out classed all other kids at the camp. Parents were asking who she was and I was keeping quite. All the love went to the big girls. I get it, they have to asses potential more than performance. That said my DD was virtually unhittable and got the "good job, come back and see us when you can hit 63, you're good but not as good as the girls who got hit around but threw 63".
In HS DD was a freshman last year and there was senior who threw gas and was 6' 1". Coach gave them both equal time in practice and scrimmages but when it came time to pick his starter he went with DD. He told her "you don't throw as hard but you get girls out". She rewarded him with a 20 win season and trip to semis in states.
Just wish my kid were 6 inches taller
Hell I wish I was 6 inches taller too

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Hang in there. She’ll find her dream school and they’ll love having her. I’ve seen lots cases like yours where even though she’s better than other girls they might be looking for a different grad year or who knows what.

Honestly too, I think a lot of who the college coaches look at comes from their connection to certain travel organizations. I never used to believe it but until I moved dd to a different org she was often overlooked. The first camp she went to after she joined her new team she was treated much differently. They knew exactly who she was as soon as she walked up to the check-in table. The coach addressed her by name during the whole camp, chatted casually with her during the lunch break. When the camp was over and she went to the coach to say thank you, the coach asked her to send her schedule and to keep in touch. This had never happened before. She had been to this same camp a few times previously and this was a much different experience for her. Maybe it’s true that they did see progress from her, as well.

The college coaches are smart, too. There may be girls who go to the camps who play for the “big marquee” orgs that have teams hundreds of miles away under the same name. They know which girls play for the org’s premier team from Florida, California, Texas, etc. and which ones don’t, even though they all wear the same jersey. I’m not saying this had anything to do with anyone’s dd on this thread, but I am speaking from personal experience. Playing for a coach who’s specific team (not just the organization) is well known and well respected can be the initial thing (other than speed and size) that helps get kids the attention from the beginning. A good college recruitment coach with your org is priceless.

MNDad said:

Hang in there. She’ll find her dream school and they’ll love having her. I’ve seen lots cases like yours where even though she’s better than other girls they might be looking for a different grad year or who knows what.

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Thanks!
Maybe I am reading too much into it. The school that held the camp came out to see DD pitch 4-5 times this summer. There is interest.

STRIKE3 said:

To the OP, over the years this is probably the 1 thing (Long Toss) that I failed to have DD do. We would do it on occasion but that didn't and doesn't help. We did everything else you could possibly do but not long toss.

With that said, we started a long toss program about 3 weeks ago (per a post Riseball had made) and it will be about all we do (outside of HS/Travel ball) this fall. DD has already seen the results in a very short time and her velocity was up this weekend and we just started. To make the program potentially more fun (takes a bit more time) but gives DD something to aim for to beat everytime we do it (and she has beat it everytime so far)

Mark your distances when you do this drill. I have a 100 ft measuring tape and while DD is putting cleats on and warming up I measure and mark the following:

Distance (Feet) Speed (MPH)
100 50
125 55
150 60
175 65

The above is a distance/speed correlation for long toss that Rick Pauly had discussed years ago. Every 5 feet is roughly 1 mph in velocity. So a long toss landing at 130 feet would be 56 mph. I have found this is a pretty accurate correlation as her Pocket Ball Coach Radar, Bushnell, and long toss distance give the exact same speed. Weird huh?

Most importantly, it makes long toss fun for DD as she is always trying to beat her last distance. Hope to share some positive results at the end of the year if I can find this post again....

S3

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Can you put in a link or describe the long toss program you are referencing here? Thanks!

SparkyDoodle said:

Can you put in a link or describe the long toss program you are referencing here? Thanks!

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Look at my post in this thread (#52). The "Free Softball Material" in blue is a link to Rick's site and can click on speed training drills tab for more information on long toss and some other great speed drills.

STRIKE3 said:

Look at my post in this thread (#52). The "Free Softball Material" in blue is a link to Rick's site and can click on speed training drills tab for more information on long toss and some other great speed drills.

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Do you perform long toss in regular pitching motion, relaxed long toss motion (one step), or walk-throughs?