Speed Jump

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Jan 28, 2017
1,661
83
Heard a former D1 pitching coach state that you will see the biggest jump in speed between 7th and 8th grade? For most 13-14 years old. I think it depends on the kid. Thoughts?
 

JAD

Feb 20, 2012
8,231
38
Georgia
Girls mature at different ages, which is why some kids who are phenoms at 13 are below average at 16.
 
Jun 6, 2018
305
43
Hard to say as everyone is different and a lot depends on how hard they work and continue to get better. I can say my DD has changed pitching coaches and seen a 6mph increase in 8 months. She is 15. I know she likely is not going to jump another 6mph in the next 8 months but I do know if she spends the off-season working out strengthening her core and pitching 4-5 days a week she is going to be in the low 60's for her sophomore season and that is her goal.
 
May 23, 2015
999
63
Complete nonsense. You either have arm speed or you don't.. It will plateau at some point in a players development. There's no telling when it will happen
 
Sep 19, 2018
928
93
I agree with saying that everyone matures (both physically and mentally) at different times, but the distribution is a bell curve, not a flat line. I don't know if this person is correct or not, but I am sure she's tracked, in detail, a lot more girls than I have. I only have anecdotal evidence of 1. My oldest DD is 14. Her chosen activity is not softball, but she was 13 when she was mature enough to understand and do what it takes to go to the next level.
 
Apr 28, 2014
2,316
113
As you all know there is no magic pill to pick up 3-4 MPH. Only hard work and effort. If mechanics are good then make them great. If legs are weak then make them strong. I disagree with the statement that core strength doesn't help speed. While it may not directly correlate if a girl has a weak core she will get injured pushing to 100% over and over. Happened to my kid.
Long toss, strength and conditioning training, running, max pitches, drills you name it. They all help but like anything you have to do them long enough to see results and like many of us who try to quit smoking, etc.. human tendency is to stop right before the breakthrough takes place.
 
Oct 1, 2014
2,218
113
USA
As you all know there is no magic pill to pick up 3-4 MPH. Only hard work and effort. If mechanics are good then make them great. If legs are weak then make them strong. I disagree with the statement that core strength doesn't help speed. While it may not directly correlate if a girl has a weak core she will get injured pushing to 100% over and over. Happened to my kid.
Long toss, strength and conditioning training, running, max pitches, drills you name it. They all help but like anything you have to do them long enough to see results and like many of us who try to quit smoking, etc.. human tendency is to stop right before the breakthrough takes place.

Core strength most certainly affects pitching mechanics and having a strong front side allowing the energy to transfer down the arm and ultimately through the fingers to the ball at release is extremely important. If the core is weak and you bend at the waist or any other mechanical flaw occurs because of weakness you are not getting the most out of that motion and probably over-compensating somewhere else (often resulting in pain or long term injury). I suppose if you want to argue that on a limited, shorter duration basis that you can throw the ball just as hard with a weak core as you can with a strong core...maybe. But as is often discussed here "it's a marathon not a sprint".
 
Apr 6, 2017
328
28
I used to see a skinny little girl pitch a few seasons ago. She’s a few years older than Dd.
She would pull from her toes to her forehead to get any speed. Her dad always left her in. She
always looked dead tired. I liked watching her. If she was stronger she would have been a
different pitcher. And yes I think the early teen years are where good stuff happens!
 

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