Ideal height for pitchers?

Being tall is nice and having long arms, legs and fingers are also good. Strength is probably more important. Generally, however, strength goes hand in hand with height. Sometimes being too tall is a detriment if the girl is the gangly sort who has trouble with her coordination.

Size isn't everything, but there is an undeniable correlation to arm speed coupled with arm length.

Size, Arm Length, and Pitching Speed Great softball pitching hints and recommendations for girl softball pitchers

This is a good discussion topic. What's not being mentioned, however, is the strength of the legs and the amount of thrust that they provide. Core strength, which also contributes to speed as well as strength in the forearm and hand. I will admit that longer arms seem to go with speed but the other stuff is extremely important. 5ft 7 inch high girls seem to do just as well as the 6 footers.

Shorter girls will look "thicker" with the same amount of muscle as a taller girl, so you can't really use thickness as a comparison. If you have two string beans, then the taller girl will have more muscle by default, so the shorter girl has to add more muscle mass to compare.

That said, it's all about the speed of the ball at release, and there are multiple ways to achieve this. There are also multiple ways to play softball in college, and while appealing to tunnelvision numbermongers might not be in the cards for a short pitcher, that isn't the end of the road.

-W

CoachFP said:

Let's see, I wouldn't call Cat, Jennie Finch, Sarah Pauley or Monica Abbott thick. What are you talking about?

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Look at the muscle tone on them. They are not thin/skinny by any means.

They are not "thick" either. They are lean and muscular. Taryn Mowatt, looks very different from those ladies and I submit she did pretty darn well. She also looked good on the ESPYs.

There is bias against short in college coaches. My DD is 5-2 in reality although they "spec" her at 5-4. Her pitcher teamates are 5-7 and 5-8 respectively (top 25 DIII program). According to the team catchers she is as fast or faster than her teammates and has as much or more spin/break. She can outlift / out core either of them in the gym. Now she was flat out told by 4 schools during recruiting to forget pitching as she would never step a foot onto the mound at her height. Even her current coach tells her the other pitchers have better speed although her spin/break is better despite what the catchers believe.

SO dont give up but it can be an uphill battle. The reality is if your are 6 foot and in the same condition as a 5-5er chances are those long arms, bigger hands are an advantage. If you are not sure next time you see Bill Hillhouse check your hand finger span versus his. Where his movement comes from will be obvious.

One of the best men's pitchers in the world is Don Scott and he is a little guy with little hands. Tremendous strength in his hands. Throws as hard as most anyone. Any coach who goes by size and can't see what the pitcher really has going for them is very insecure. Give me the best pitcher, I'll worry about justifying her size to the losing opposing team.

DD's pitching coach is 5'2" on a tall day and weighs 120 pounds fully dressed with shoes on. She pitched in college and had an opportuntiy to pitch in the NPF.

Bump....and there have been more vertically challenged pitchers proving themselves and their abilities over the last 10 years both in the circle and secondary positions (besides 1B). *Not saying being tall isn't an advantage but...