How fast to first base?

[radness]

Some time back in 2004/2005 I went to a Stanford coaching clinic put on by John Rittman who, at the time, was an assistant coach for the women's national team. Someone in our group asked him what home to 1st time he wanted to see for a player to be a slapper on his team. He said he needed to see around 2.8 for his player to be a legit small ball threat. He then lamented, due to the extremely high academic standard of Stanford, he was not able to get "real speed" like he had on the national team. He said the speedsters on the national team were in the 2.6 range. To put this into perspective, a local league MVP a few years back batted over .650 her senior year partly because she was "very fast" by our local standards. She was consistently timed at 2.9. Most average speed 16U/18U players in our area are around 3.1.

Nice feedback!
Have heard similar stories from ivy's.
Where academics standards may outway whom they can recruit.

Also good point of what 'speed' is in relation to level of play its applied to!

 

[_MIA_]

He then lamented, due to the extremely high academic standard of Stanford, he was not able to get "real speed" like he had on the national team.

The football team seems to do ok with regards to recruiting top athletes.. or at least athletes who are able to compete in a P5 football conference

 

[phillyfresh]

Lots of great info in here. Dont really hear much about cross training. My DD trains with her older brother who plays comp level soccer. More like he forces her. Hates the cones, hates ladder work, but shes got the quickest feet on the team. Ive seen plenty of kids of all ages that could be faster just in their running stance.

 

[CrazyNani]

I have timed my 14yr old, dgd at 2.85 to first, starting with the first movement after contact. She doesn't run this consistently although, she has always been very low 3s. I have it on video and have timed it over and over and still come up with 2.85 from the right side. She isn't on the small, wiry side but is considered to be fast by her coaches. Her bunts end up being hits. She just loves to run and is aggressive, taking too much risk actually. Her OF hits always turn into doubles or triples, regardless of the field she hits to and she's had 3 in the park homers and 2 triples in the past few weeks alone. I'm starting to think, she might be fast but reluctant to really "believe" it. Just hoping this continues and/or even improves, as she gets older and bigger. She won't speed train but wants to run track in high school. Maybe that will help too.

 

[AdamTheSoftballDad]

I have timed my 14yr old, dgd at 2.85 to first, starting with the first movement after contact. She doesn't run this consistently although, she has always been very low 3s. I have it on video and have timed it over and over and still come up with 2.85 from the right side. She isn't on the small, wiry side but is considered to be fast by her coaches. Her bunts end up being hits. She just loves to run and is aggressive, taking too much risk actually. Her OF hits always turn into doubles or triples, regardless of the field she hits to and she's had 3 in the park homers and 2 triples in the past few weeks alone. I'm starting to think, she might be fast but reluctant to really "believe" it. Just hoping this continues and/or even improves, as she gets older and bigger. She won't speed train but wants to run track in high school. Maybe that will help too.

Woah 2.85 is definitely fast from what I’ve read. I love watching aggressive base runners. It’s so great to watch a hit to the outfield that would usually be a double be turned into a triple by a speedy runner who runs the bases with aggression. You gotta be careful around that 14-15 age though. A lot of girls who are fast in 14u end up losing a lot of their speed when they turn 15 or 16. I’ve seen a lot of my DDs teammates who used to fly around the bases in 14u become average runners as they got older and bigger. Running track should help keep her stay quick though. Personally my DD has always been a consistent below average.

 

[ang2bmd]

HS coach timed my 2024 at 2.65, college camp at 2.70. She's also a righty. Rarely thrown out stealing.

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