- Mar 28, 2011
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I Coach two 9 year olds that throw 40 mph. In my rec ball league we have at least two girls (10’s) that throw 45 mph. In my TB league (10’s) the average is about 45mph with some @ 50 mph.
All Star Practice
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The claim was an 8U that could have played another year of 8U was throwing 49-51 mph. Your numbers sound reasonable. There is a first year 12U that I know that was throwing mid-40's as a 10 and is throwing low 50's as a 12. But 8U throwing that speed is Jennie Finch or her clone.
6 y/o with pitching coaches? My DD could barely throw a ball @ 6, and she threw "Like a girl" with her elbow on her rib.
1st year of All-Stars was as a 9 y/o. There was no way she could maintain focus for a 2 hour practice, the maturity just was not there (2 hr practice was what the team did to be ready to play). As a 10 y/o, yes she could stay focused. As an 11/12 they would practice a bit longer, but never more than 2.5 hrs.
She is now in club ball @ 14U.....practice is 90-120 min max. The team does hitting, fielding, baserunning, work on what went wrong the last game and do a small scrimmage with all the pitchers throwing live....all in 2 hrs. Coach insures there is not a minute of practice time wasted.
1st year of All-Stars was as a 9 y/o. There was no way she could maintain focus for a 2 hour practice, the maturity just was not there (2 hr practice was what the team did to be ready to play). As a 10 y/o, yes she could stay focused. As an 11/12 they would practice a bit longer, but never more than 2.5 hrs.
She is now in club ball @ 14U.....practice is 90-120 min max. The team does hitting, fielding, baserunning, work on what went wrong the last game and do a small scrimmage with all the pitchers throwing live....all in 2 hrs. Coach insures there is not a minute of practice time wasted.
Please don't take this the wrong way - I have to take you at your word since I have no data to dispute what you say, BUT.......if I had 8 YEAR OLD PITCHERS THROWING THAT HARD, I would not bother holding 4 hour practices for All Stars.
Those numbers seem low to me also, but an 8yo pitching 49-51 seems a little, well... extreme? How big is she? My DD's 14U TB team has 4 pitchers and the slowest averages 54-55. If she doesn't locate her pitches with good movement, she doesn't pitch very long. Top 2 both hit 60+. There is a 14U girl around here that can hit 68 (game speed is about 65) but she has had some shoulder problems and missed some tournaments already this year. Hope your 8U doesn't hurt herself.
yup....6yr old with not only pitching coaches but hitting as well. not too many of them but they are around. 7 year olds for sure. At 7, a lot of the girls already have both hitting coaches and pitching as well. You guys mention that 2 hour practices seems crazy for 8u all stars. 8u rec team with half the team filled with 6 yr olds that just moved up from 6u practice for 2 hours. Absolutely no problem keeping them alert for the entire 2 hours. They practice two hours tues. and thurs. and do batting cages on Fridays. This is standard for 8u during regular season. you can imagine how they handle all stars.
The pitching didn't seem right to me either, this girl was a machine!! Strongest 8u pitcher i had seen in a while. and that was with her being able to stay in 8's. ended up leaving to 10's and is their number one all star pitcher. Their number two is also a girl that just moved up from 8's. Number one catcher in 10's is another girl that was able to stay in 8s but moved up.
As far as the pitchers size, she was not a big girl. Average height, slightly above average build. She was just built like a tank!! The sick part was that she would hit corners all day, put that ball wherever she wanted. She didn't have any other pitch though. The number three was not as fast but already had a good change up and drop ball.
I agree that the specific pitcher i'm talking about isn't the norm. I hadn't seen anyone that fast at that age and don't expect to. But an 8u pitcher hitting 45 is very common around SoCal. 8u hitting off a 45mph pitcher is also common.
As a measuring stick, travel ball teams in the area practice three times a week for 3 hours a day!
Something funny......in one of the tourneys we are signing up for, they have a 6u division. It's really fun watching 6 6u teams playing against each other!! Last year, they had the biggest crowd!
The pitching didn't seem right to me either, this girl was a machine!! Strongest 8u pitcher i had seen in a while. and that was with her being able to stay in 8's. ended up leaving to 10's and is their number one all star pitcher. Their number two is also a girl that just moved up from 8's. Number one catcher in 10's is another girl that was able to stay in 8s but moved up.
As far as the pitchers size, she was not a big girl. Average height, slightly above average build. She was just built like a tank!! The sick part was that she would hit corners all day, put that ball wherever she wanted. She didn't have any other pitch though. The number three was not as fast but already had a good change up and drop ball.
I agree that the specific pitcher i'm talking about isn't the norm. I hadn't seen anyone that fast at that age and don't expect to. But an 8u pitcher hitting 45 is very common around SoCal. 8u hitting off a 45mph pitcher is also common.
As a measuring stick, travel ball teams in the area practice three times a week for 3 hours a day!
Something funny......in one of the tourneys we are signing up for, they have a 6u division. It's really fun watching 6 6u teams playing against each other!! Last year, they had the biggest crowd!
- Jan 31, 2011
- 458
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I am speechless as well...Boy, what to say & how to say it? An 8YO throwing 50? Where can I get that gun?
I just giggled like a little girl over here... I don't want the gun, I want the girl lol!
I've long accepted that they put something in the water in SoCal and the girls there are like no others.
It's true and this thread made me realize it. I'm seeing now that they don't kid around here. Just the fact that they have tournaments for 6u divisions goes to show how early they get started. Most parents around here skip the 6u all together. You'll see many 8u teams with 5 year olds on it.
Sorry for hijacking the forum with what some would consider bs. I was not coming in here to discuss how SoCal players are but was looking for some cool ideas regarding all star practices.
I would also like to say that this forum handled itself poorly in this thread. Many of you need to get off your high horse. I came in here with a simple question and letting you know up front that I was fairly new to this. I've been around fastpitch softball for about 6 years now and in SoCal softball, according to you guys that can equate to 15 years. I'm not entirely new but am new to coaching an all star team. Instead of suggestions i got ridiculed and slapped in the face.
With the exception of a select few, the rest of you who i've seen on here regularly were beyond childish.
For those of you that put in some nice comments, thank you!!
I have absolutely no problem discussing SoCal fastpitch and it's ways so i'll still be in here logging in to check how this thread is going.
Sorry for hijacking the forum with what some would consider bs. I was not coming in here to discuss how SoCal players are but was looking for some cool ideas regarding all star practices.
I would also like to say that this forum handled itself poorly in this thread. Many of you need to get off your high horse. I came in here with a simple question and letting you know up front that I was fairly new to this. I've been around fastpitch softball for about 6 years now and in SoCal softball, according to you guys that can equate to 15 years. I'm not entirely new but am new to coaching an all star team. Instead of suggestions i got ridiculed and slapped in the face.
With the exception of a select few, the rest of you who i've seen on here regularly were beyond childish.
For those of you that put in some nice comments, thank you!!
I have absolutely no problem discussing SoCal fastpitch and it's ways so i'll still be in here logging in to check how this thread is going.
At the risk of sounding like I am judging people. I just don't understand why people would force a child to practice one sport that much at 7-8 years old. You can tell me all you want that the kids love it, and they might. But I think a parent is not doing their job if they allow one activity to be everything for an 8 year old.
My goal as a parent, and maybe its me that whacky, was never to develop a D1 athlete. If it happens thats great, my goal was to develop well rounded children who become well rounded adults. I wanted my kids to try something from everything. When my son was born I told my wife I wanted to raise a Renaissance man.
I had an entire resume of my children laid out, all of their accomplishments and how well they have performed both in athletics, music, art and academics, but frankly it started to look like I was just bragging. I guess my point is, how do you really know at age 6,7 or 8 what you kid is going to be, and to focus so hard on 1 area of life. I just don't understand it.
My goal as a parent, and maybe its me that whacky, was never to develop a D1 athlete. If it happens thats great, my goal was to develop well rounded children who become well rounded adults. I wanted my kids to try something from everything. When my son was born I told my wife I wanted to raise a Renaissance man.
I had an entire resume of my children laid out, all of their accomplishments and how well they have performed both in athletics, music, art and academics, but frankly it started to look like I was just bragging. I guess my point is, how do you really know at age 6,7 or 8 what you kid is going to be, and to focus so hard on 1 area of life. I just don't understand it.
