12U at 43 feet

[vdubya]

MS team picked up DD needing pitching. She is 12u in 6th grade, small for age, a 5 foot, ninety pounder. Last week they determined the MS teams will pitch from 43'.

I'm really thinking about pulling the plug due to the 43' but I'm looking for board wisdom here. I'm not arguing that the MS teams should/should not move to 43', only whether the kid should.

Though she is a very good pitcher, she is a kid in her girl body, not her woman body. Some 12u's out there are fully developed women, but not this one. I am thinking it is insane to ask her to pitch from HS/college distance at 12. Just over a year ago was the end of 10u and the 11" ball at 35'. Now she is being asked to throw from a distance greater than HS seniors threw for years and years.

Her mechanics are pretty solid and I'd like to keep it that way. Just because she could doesn't mean she should...I honestly don't think that size of a kid should be pitching from 43'. She has one right shoulder/elbow/wrist and two knees/ankles to last her a life time. I see several more years of softball ahead, but I'm thinking of hanging up MS ball and sticking with travel exclusively.

Crazy, over-protective Daddy? Or am I thinking clearly here?
Vdub

 

[vdubya]

"If your DD uses correct mechanics, she should be able to pitch from 43' with ease."

Her mechanics are solid. I don't think this statement really has merit. She drills from >43 feet when she practices, but for a limited time and that is a different story.

If I apply the above statement to her hitting it would look something like this: "If your DD has good swing mechanics, she should be able to hit (at age 12) with the 34" bat she will use in college with ease." (Currently swings a 30")

 

[SamG]

In our schools, 6th grade IS part of Middle School. Since some of our MS games are played on HS fields, I'm going to be interested to see what they do for distance. Our MS has it's own field and I'm told it will stay @ 40'.

I personally do not think 6th, 7th, 8th graders should be pitching from 43' (same as college). How many MS QBs are asked to throw a football 60+ yards (that they're expected to do in college)?

If our MS goes to 43', my DD will pitch from 43'. We put her at that distance at practice last week, and although she struggled at the start, she ended up throwing well.

You have to do what you think is best for your DD. I suggest talking to the coach and let him/her know your concerns.

 

[starsnuffer]

The kids just want to play the game, honestly, they don't care about the rules. Pitching from 43' is not dangerous, and it's not going to hurt her.

There is an issue with middle school age pitching at that distance because it's different then every other sanctioning body at that age. 14u is when the distance is moved to 43', and unless there are a lot of kids that flunked out in this school district, I think you'd be hard pressed to find a lot of 8th graders that were not 13 on Jan 1 of their 8th grade graduation year. However, this is a rules issue and not a "safe for your kid" issue.

IMHO, I'd let her play ball. My concerns would be if she's a travel player and has to flip flop between pitching distances all the time, in that case, I'd still let her play MS ball, but encourage her to play positions other then pitcher.

-W

 

[Ade's Dad]

My DD was 12 last year in the 6th grade.Our MS went to 43', she adjusted well, made her curve much more effective. I just don't see an issue with a 12yo pitching from that distance.

 

[SamG]

I don't see a reason for MS to go to 43'. It aids the batters. Were/are pitchers that dominate in MS? Again, how many other sports expect MS athletes to perform at the same level as COLLEGE athletes. Personally, I can see HS Varsity going to 43', MAYBE JV. I don't see a reason for Middle School.

 

[Ade's Dad]

I'll admit it worried me a lot last year.But I don't think it really made much of a difference.It really only took about a couple nights to get use to the extra 3 feet then went back to 40 in travel.I really didn't see a lot more hits either.

 

[ArmWhip]

Going from 40 to 43 might hurt the pitchers with good fastballs. However because it neutralizes the fastball a little it puts more emphasis on accuracy.

 

[amanda_cake]

Our rec league recently had a similar issue. We play under a "modified pony rule set". We aren't an official Pony team, but we use the Pony handbook with a few "in-house" things. One of the in-house issues is due to lack of girls, we can't field both a 12U and a 14U, so we have a 13U (along with 10U & 16U). Recently, they moved the mound to 43 for 13U. That means that girls fresh out of 10U at 11 are moving 8 feet back and throwing from 43 feet. It will also cause problems for all stars, when we are able to field a 12u and a 14u to compete. Those 12u pitchers are going to have to adjust to 40 again.