against moving 14 YOs to 43 feet

[SoftSocDad]

I completely get a HS freshman playing 14's pitching at 43'. I think my concern lies with a kid like my 12 YO DD. She is an Oct '98 in the sixth grade. Next year she will go up to 14's as a 7th grader. I think 43' will be a tough jump. Her mechanics are pretty sound, so I am not worried about injury due to her trying to overthrow the ball. It will just be a big step. Going up to older girls for one, and having to throw from a farther distance. She will definitely have to learn quickly how to move the ball better. I can actually say that I am on the fence about this one. I think the change is coming, so we all need to be ready. Who knows what lies ahead. My DD could grow a couple inches and pick up some additional speed and movement. May be an easier transition than I anticipate. One thing is certain. We are all going to find out real soon.

As a parent, I'm very happy to let our daughter engage in sports that are potentially dangerous if that's what she wants to do. But when it comes to long-term health issues that might result from overuse injuries, I prefer to err on the side of caution and there's nothing at all hypocritical about that position. We stretch beforehand, wear protective equipment, and follow the rules of the road when skiing, and we stretch, learn awareness of our surroundings and wear safety equipment in softball.

If she's still playing softball when she's 13 - assuming that the distance has been changed to 43' - and if I don't believe she is physically ready to pitch that distance, then she'll stay in 12u.

 

[Goobie]

My DD is a freshman this year but chose to play 14U rather than move up to 16U. She is one of the youngest in her 9th grade class with one of those birthdays that just missed the cut off. Luckily she is smart enough to handle the academics. The choice to stay at 14U was a fairly easy one. Either move up to 16U and be the 3rd or 4th pitcher on the team and receive very limited innings. Or stay at 14U (she is age eligible) and have the opportunity to be the #1 or #2 pitcher and get a bunch of innings. My vote was on more innings. You just can't get any better, IMO, sitting on the bench.

This fall she has played in both ASA and USSSA tournaments. USSSA is already at 43' for 14U. Their rules officially change 1/1/2011. ASA has still been 40' this fall. My daughter has not had any issues at all going back and forth between the distances. Prior to the first game we step out the distance and warm up at whichever distance she will be pitching at. If her screw doesn't break right... she adjusts. If her drop bounces in... she adjusts. No problem.

Personally I think being able to adjust is key. What happens if a pitcher has a 20 mile head or tail wind during a game. Do we just say... too windy we can't pitch today? Nope... she figures out what she has to do to get the pitch in there. + or - 3 feet doesn't matter.

Again, she is an older 14U and fairly big and strong. What do we do about that first year 12U that hasn't hit her growth spurt yet? One suggestion I have made is play 14 "A" ball at 43' and 14 "B" and 13U at 40'. Someone usually has an argument about it, but I personally like the idea.

 

[RMGC]

I think the break point for the difference in distance should be after the 14U level. That is still considered middle school, and let the 43' distance be for 16U and JV/Varsity school softball. Also, if you really think about it though, a pitcher that throws from 40' is really already throwing to 43' by the time it reaches the catcher's glove. the only difficulty with the change in distance is with the breaking pitches and adjusting the movement to the distance.

 

[fastpitch]

Moving to 43' isn't as hard as boys moving from 46 to 60 when going to high school or middle school. My dd's team is a 12u team playing in a 14u fall league and our pitcher's seem to adjust fine. They don't even notice the difference.

 

[Amy in AZ.]

So, someone asked Finch why she was against 43 feet at 14U and here is her answer - "I think it is unsafe for the pitchers. Our games offense has exploded & pitchers need to have a chance."

I think what she is saying is that more girls are getting hurt by line drives, while pitching from 43 feet. It has given the hitters an advantage. I know that both men and women slow pitch pitchers pitch from 50 feet and even at that distance, there isn't time to protect yourself from a hit up the middle.

 

[TheRogue]

Seems like we saw the most problem this fall as 14's playing up at 16u was our drop-ball pitcher.....just couldn't keep it in the zone at 43, but just right at 40.

 

[mrslug01]

It's defenitely more dangerous for the pitcher. More balls are going to be put in play. The extra reaction time the pitcher has is inconsequential. The extra time to field the ball is about .03 seconds for a ball coming back 70-90 mph off the bat. The hitter though gains .04 seconds of time to adjust to hit a ball at 55 mph. It makes a 55 mph pitch apprea to be a 51mph pitch. That's a big difference. I have a pitcher on my team that is pretty wild. She throws mid 50's. She can be affectively wild at 40 feet but that won't work at 43. If she misses over the plate, she's going to get rocked (and hopefully not hurt).

 

[redhawkridge]

Any pro-43' justification that includes the statement "the girls don't notice the difference" isn't a strong argument. I had two games this summer coaching a 14u team where the field people prepped the mound with the rubber at 46' (a baseball distance). The girls played 2 innings before I noticed the difference, and never said anything to me. Girls this age have a lot more on their minds than the pitching distance.
My team wasn't a highly competitive group, but, hey, the rules apply to these girls too. 43' is fine for college, but isn't required to make high school softball a better game. If the girls can adjust to 43' at ages 14 to 16, then they certainly can make the transition at age 18-19 to play at the collegiate level without much competitive disadvantage.
jim

 

[shockcoach]

I'm in the against camp.

 

[ArmWhip]

The argument that moving back to 43ft is more dangerous for the pitcher doesn't make sense to me unless maybe you have a world class fastball. In general good hitters can catch up to a fastball regardless of the distance." Let's make it safer for the pitchers and move the rubber to 35ft." I don't think so!! Moving to 43ft makes spotting the ball more important even though it makes it a little harder.