How fast to first base????

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Mar 23, 2010
14
0
How fast should a 9y/o be running from batters box to first base. My DD is a little on the sloooooowww side, but I love her anyway. She can pull home to first in between 4.5 and 5.5 secs. How close is she to being where she needs to be.
 
Mar 15, 2010
544
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My top 14U players home to first time is about 3 seconds. I consider anything under 3.2 to be fast and 3.3 - 3.5 to be the average. Anything over 3.5 would be slow. For a 9 YO I would add about a second to these times. On the low end your DD's speed would be considered average and on the high end slow.
 
Jun 3, 2010
171
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I'm glad someone asked this question for a younger girl.We worked on pumping your arms about a month ago at practice and it made all of our girls look faster. I did not have my stop watch that day. But about a week or so later my 8 yr old DD wanted to see how fast she was, we set it up in the back yard and she ran times in the 3.8+ range, this was all from the left side. I have been wondering is she was slow, average or whatever.
 
May 26, 2010
197
0
Central NJ
3.0 seconds seems very fast for 20 yards (60 feet). Professional running backs in the NFL run between 4.1 and 4.4 seconds for 40 yards, but the first 10 yards is significantly slower (feet/sec) than the last 30. It takes time for a runner to get up to speed. The girls on your team must be extremely fast.

My 12U DD runs 60 feet in 4.2 seconds, which seems to be average speed comparatively. From what I've seen, 3.5 seconds would be considered fast.

There was another thread discussing speed from first base to third base (40 yards, or 120 feet). In that thread, less than 7.5 seconds was considered fast and 7.5 to 8.0 was considered average. These numbers seem to be consistent when compared to professional athletes.
 
Oct 18, 2009
604
18
I just helped evaluate a 9 yo team and got the home to 1st times. The girls we considered pretty fast were under 3.5... the fastest being 3.2

We started the watch on 1st step from home.

Just from my recent experience:
Fast under 3.5
Above average under 4
Average 4-4.6
Below average above 4.6
 
Mar 15, 2010
544
0
3.0 seconds seems very fast for 20 yards (60 feet). Professional running backs in the NFL run between 4.1 and 4.4 seconds for 40 yards, but the first 10 yards is significantly slower (feet/sec) than the last 30. It takes time for a runner to get up to speed. The girls on your team must be extremely fast.

These are 14u GOLD players not rec players. I should have specified that. In rec I would add a about .5 - .75 seconds to these times. My 14U GOLD players are extremely fast (with the exception of my own DD) and probably should not be used for any comparison purposes to most other A travel or rec players.
 
May 26, 2010
197
0
Central NJ
Attached are the split times of various Olympic sprinters, including Ben Johnson (Ben) and Usain Bolt (Bolt). Including reaction time, both Ben Johnson and Usain Bolt ran 20 meters in 3.0 seconds. The other Olympic sprinters ran either 3.0 or 3.1 seconds. 20 meters is equal to 21.9 yards (65.6 feet), so it's not a direct comparison but pretty close. The runner is going approximately 1 meter per 0.1 second at 20 meters, so the time at 20 yards would probably be ~2.85 seconds for both.
 

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Sep 3, 2009
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Attached are the split times of various Olympic sprinters, including Ben Johnson (Ben) and Usain Bolt (Bolt). Including reaction time, both Ben Johnson and Usain Bolt ran 20 meters in 3.0 seconds. The other Olympic sprinters ran either 3.0 or 3.1 seconds. 20 meters is equal to 21.9 yards (65.6 feet), so it's not a direct comparison but pretty close. The runner is going approximately 1 meter per 0.1 second at 20 meters, so the time at 20 yards would probably be ~2.85 seconds for both.

There are several collegiate softball players whose home to 1st times are sub-3.0 seconds. Even a few down in the 2.6's.
 
May 26, 2010
197
0
Central NJ
There are several collegiate softball players whose home to 1st times are sub-3.0 seconds. Even a few down in the 2.6's.

There must be differences in the way they are being timed. Are the girls running through homeplate when they are timed? The best runners take about 1.9 seconds to get up to speed over the first 10 meters. To run a 2.6, the second 10 meters would need to be run in 0.7 seconds which is faster than the top speed of the world record holder in the 100 meter dash. Comparing apples to apples, a college softball player will not be faster than an Olympic sprinter. My DD's 4.2 second time is from a standing start and being given a start signal. Her time would be a 4.0 if reaction time is eliminated. Her time would probably be less than 3.5 if given a running start.
 
Mar 15, 2010
544
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There must be differences in the way they are being timed.

Good point. there are many different ways to calculate time. I time my players from bat contact to touching first. There are also substantial time differences between bunts, slaps and hits. The times I am quoting are from my fastest players on bunts and slaps. On hits you need to add .25 - .5 seconds to account for the follow through and body repositioning. Lefties on a running slap have the advantage of being an additional few feet closer and having momentum built up when they make contact.
 

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