How fast to first base????

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Feb 17, 2014
7,152
113
Orlando, FL
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.
So these collegiate players can keep right up with the fastest man in the world, ever? Usain Bolt ran 20m (21.9 yards) in 3.05 seconds in track shoes, out of starting blocks. But these girls can keep right up in cleats on clay? I have seen the video of Radar Grandpa. Is there one of Stopwatch Grandma? :)
 
Apr 20, 2015
961
93
I'm very confused about home to first times or standing 20yrd dash as it has been measured at the last several camps my daughter has been too. She is 13u 2024 and has clocked in the 2.9s at both camps and according to the data given to parents this is considered average but the #s posted above are much slower...just don't know what to think.

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May 20, 2016
433
63
Never got the point of not doing a simulated swing and run. I've always timed girls that way. I've yet to take part in or see any game where a batter was allowed to get into a runners position after hitting a ball. If your foot work isn't good after a hit, who cares how fast you are from a sprinters position?
 
Sep 9, 2019
130
43
Never got the point of not doing a simulated swing and run. I've always timed girls that way. I've yet to take part in or see any game where a batter was allowed to get into a runners position after hitting a ball. If your foot work isn't good after a hit, who cares how fast you are from a sprinters position?
Speed, pure speed. You can learn ways to get out quicker. You cant teach God given speed.
 
Sep 23, 2018
61
8
Never got the point of not doing a simulated swing and run. I've always timed girls that way. I've yet to take part in or see any game where a batter was allowed to get into a runners position after hitting a ball. If your foot work isn't good after a hit, who cares how fast you are from a sprinters position?

I actually make my girls bunt for real. Stopwatch starts when I hear the ping of the bat. Our times might be slightly slower than a team starting in runners start, but man are my times accurate and more game like.
 
Mar 8, 2016
313
63
Measuring what they do in real life situations or as close to them as possible is important. On our team we have 2 fast girls. One girl is 5'4" and is going to a mid-major D1 as a slapper. She is fast she beats out bunts in 18u A TB that are right back to the pitcher or third baseman if they hesitate at all. This girl is the fastest or second fastest girl I have ever seen at the TB level. I coach first you do not need a stop watch to know that she is elite fast. At one practice we had 4 people timing her home to first speed. Guess what? They all came up with different times. When we are talking about 1 or 2 tenths being the difference between ok and fast it is hard to measure.
The other fast girl on the team is my 6' DD. She is only average to first. She has a hard time getting started after the swing and it takes her halfway down the line to get up to speed. Lucky for her she is a power hitter. Put these 2 girls on base to steal and it is no contest. DD has not been caught stealing in 2 years. The slapper gets caught stealing 20% of the time. DD gets a better jump (cheats/pushes the limit) and has a better head first slide. When you watch them on the bases (stealing or 1st to 3rd) you come away with the conclusion that DD is faster. In college I think the Slapper will get better on the bases but there is split second decision making on the bases that also makes a difference. Some of that can be taught and helped but some of it is pure instinct.

Putting these girls in 3 different scenarios results in different outcomes
Track sprint: the Slapper wins hands down
Home to first in game: the Slapper wins hands down
Stealing bases: DD wins hands down
 
Feb 17, 2014
7,152
113
Orlando, FL
Home to first times as with pop times are very subjective. Methods vary widely, then add in the human factor and the result is a textbook apples to oranges comparison. The only value in these exercises is to compare one player with another within the same event. You can not compare a home to first or pop time collected at one event with the results from another event.

In order to provide an objective standard some clinics have gone to 20 yard dashes timed with a laser. This is a great measurement of pure speed and the values collected at one event should be able to be compared with another event using the same methodology. But those values in no way can be equated to a home to first time. Home to first is NOT 20 yards and what counts is when your foot hits the bag, not your torso breaking a laser beam. Depending on the location of the pitch and the aggressiveness of the slapper the distance may be a good bit less than 20 yards / 60 feet.

I will tell you that based on my college scouting experience the de facto standard for most college coaches is the sound of the bat and the foot on the bag under game conditions.
 
Dec 11, 2010
4,713
113
My dd supposedly ran a 2.7 home to first at an SEC camp. The teams ss did her home to first and exit speed. I swear she just liked dd and was trying to help her out. She is usually 2.9, 3.0 ish.

For whatever it’s worth, she was really slow when she started playing. (10u). It really improved with playing and a running training program that she actually enjoyed.
 
Jan 8, 2019
664
93
My dd supposedly ran a 2.7 home to first at an SEC camp. The teams ss did her home to first and exit speed. I swear she just liked dd and was trying to help her out. She is usually 2.9, 3.0 ish.

For whatever it’s worth, she was really slow when she started playing. (10u). It really improved with playing and a running training program that she actually enjoyed.
Is there anything in particular you think helped her build her speed more than other things?
 

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