10u pitching speeds

[oregonfp]

I think these are the numbers you are referencing and they are pretty accurate IMO unless of course you ask a bucket dad who will tell you his DD is the rare exception every time:

10U 35-45 anyone hitting 50 is the rare exception

12U 43-53 over 55 again the exception

14U 45-55 some good pitcher will start pushing 60

18U (HS) 50-62 anything over 65 is the exception

College most in the 60s with the flamethrowers in the low 70s

At 10's I saw one girl who threw 50 consistently, funny thing about her is at 14s she still only throws low 50's.

I think these numbers are close but slightly low. DD plays 14s and all 3 of our pitchers throw mid 50's. Last season I saw I saw 4 girls clocked at 60 at 14s and one clocked at 62. And we live in freaking Oregon.

 

[humpty]

Next question is there a noticeable drop in speed with kids moving from small ball to big ball.

 

[gatorcoach]

This is always a "hot topic." LOL

I saw several radar guns at ASA/USA 10U last summer, yes even a couple of our dads. The avg speed seemed to be 46-48. There were several girls who hit 50-52, but not every fastball. There were 2-3 girls who hit 54-55 at times. Our #1 last year was 48-52 avg on fastball. One thing to keep in mind, if they are not hitting spots the "top" teams will hammer 50mph. Speed w/o location is great for your avg 10u teams, but you better hit spots against the better teams (Even at 10U). Gamers Academy and LA Rippers both had pitchers that were about 5'5 and 115+lbs. They were the ones I saw clocked at 54-55.

 

[gatorcoach]

Next question is there a noticeable drop in speed with kids moving from small ball to big ball.

Yes, but they also move back 5ft. They adjust pretty quickly, but most begin to throw more spin pitches as well.

 

[sluggers]

At 10's I saw one girl who threw 50 consistently, funny thing about her is at 14s she still only throws low 50's.

And that is the way it is...her body changed and she didn't adapt. End of story.

 

[chinamigarden]

Here is my issue with the whole inflated speed thing. My dd has always thrown hard. I never clocked her, and as far as I know it wasn't until she was 13 that anyone else did either. It was never something I needed to know. I do know that at 10 people would tell me she was throwing 50, of course they never had a gun in their hand, they just could tell. I laughed because I have seen 50 and I could tell she wasn't throwing that fast. But as time went on, I heard about the lefty on our team who threw 50, it ticked me off because it was a lie started by other people and I thought it would reflect bad on me.

I figure it starts when someone says that his kid throws 50, maybe grandpa gunned her, and got his lunging exercise in. And someone looks at another kid and says she looks to throw harder so she must throw more then 50... And so it goes. One bad comparison after another to make up for an initial persons bs.

And besides, people watch for an arc on the pitch and the girl who has a drop ball or just good natural movement looks to be throwing slower then the girl who throws without movement. Guess who gets hit hardest.

I remember a dad telling me his son at age 10 was throwing 70, his kid couldn't break a window if he hit it, but to his dad it was important that everyone hear that his boy threw 70. I don't understand the need to know, like I said someone had to come up to me at age 13 and tell me, again at 14 and then there was the guy from Central Michigan who was gunning her at a tourney. Other then those 3 times I have no idea if she has been measured and frankly I don't care. If she is striking them out, thats the number I like to see.

 

[humpty]

And that is the way it is...her body changed and she didn't adapt. End of story.

Or she was already physically mature at 10.

 

[3'sDad]

The DD at 10U could get it pretty close to 50 & maintain the speed. 10's pitch with an 11" ball from 35'. At 12's they go to the 12" ball throwing from 40'. Big difference. At 14's they move them back to 43' and there are lots of ball hit hard & put into play, no matter the speed.

As stated above, DD was right at 50 in 10's, stayed the same at 12's due to the bigger ball and distance; moved up to 51-53 at 14's & now is 53-55 at 16's. Her best pitches are a nice drop curve, screwball and a nasty change-up. She is not a strike-out pitcher - she'll get 2-4 a game but 10-12 ground ball outs. Size wise - On her tall days she is 5'3 and weights 112 with her helmet & spikes on.

 

[humpty]

3s dad. So she only gained 3-5 mph in 6 yrs. How big was she at 10?

 

[Thing1Thing2]

I will try to get more accurate numbers once we start up our spring schedule. I was just saying that out of the roughly 100 TB teams in Ga, I would have to say that after seeing the top teams play, there are about 5-8 teams that have a pitcher throwing close to 50. Some I've visually seen, some I've seen others clock and some that we have been teammates with.

I tend to agree with Sluggers and my part of my post was theoretical... Not having much to back that statement up.

And 47 is not 50, but I sure don't want to claim that my DD does throw 50 on here bc she and I will be ripped to shreds at the very statement. I just really wanted to defend some of these girls who at 10 are genetically blessed and do throw hard.

And to Humpty... DD just turned 10 she's 5'2" and 109lbs and is currently eating me out of house and home... Hope her metabolism keeps up