Hello all, I would appreciate some advice. I have an 11 year old daughter who is playing her second season of 12u. She is not a pitcher. Most of the girls on the team are a year older than her and seem to be throwing significantly faster than her. I put a radar on her and she is averaging 38 mph. Is this fast, slow or about right for an 11 yo. in your experience?
Overhand throwing speed
- Thread starter Longshot
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- Dec 20, 2011
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Slow. But you should be able to see that without a radar gun.
- Jun 12, 2015
- 3,848
- 83
That seems slow to me.
Seems slow to me too.
DD was worried about hurting another player at this age, pair her up with someone good or an adult that can catch. Let her throw it.
DD was worried about hurting another player at this age, pair her up with someone good or an adult that can catch. Let her throw it.
- Jun 12, 2015
- 3,848
- 83
That's a good point. I don't think my DD ever threw full speed in 8U. On our team that was a good thing, because most of the girls couldn't catch reliably. I bet this is where some of her bad throwing habits came from, which we're finally getting fixed now. Once we moved up and changed teams it only took a practice or 2 for her to realize the other girls could catch whatever she threw. They whiz it at each other full speed now.
Someone will remind me of the throwing Ebook.
shaker1
Softball Junkie
Austin Wasserman has a good ebook you can purchase that will help with mechanics and speed. I just read the throwing sticky in softball fielding, it's got a ton of great information. All you need really to get some speed on her throws. http://www.discussfastpitch.com/softball-fielding/7915-throwing.html
Great info guys.
Browsing the boards last night I saw a post for Wasserman High level throwing. I read the e-book and she is definitely pushing the ball. I am going to start working with her on some of those drills this weekend. I really liked the water bottle drill.
I didn't even think about her holding back because of the other girls. In 10u she did manage to injure 2 girls because they couldn't catch the ball (one hit in the chest and one dislocated her index finger by catching in the palm of her glove). That was one reason we moved up to 12u a little early. I was also thinking about getting the J-bands mentioned in the e-book. Any opinions on those?
Browsing the boards last night I saw a post for Wasserman High level throwing. I read the e-book and she is definitely pushing the ball. I am going to start working with her on some of those drills this weekend. I really liked the water bottle drill.
I didn't even think about her holding back because of the other girls. In 10u she did manage to injure 2 girls because they couldn't catch the ball (one hit in the chest and one dislocated her index finger by catching in the palm of her glove). That was one reason we moved up to 12u a little early. I was also thinking about getting the J-bands mentioned in the e-book. Any opinions on those?
- Jun 21, 2012
- 74
- 0
One of my favorite drills for increasing arm and ball speed is throwing the ball straight down, into the ground.
1. She can self measure how hard she is throwing by watching the bounce. Or by seeing how much of a divot she makes in grass.
2. Focus on controlling the bounce so the ball doesn't bounce away (works on throwing accuracy)
3. She can do this alone. 50 balls every other day. Can be done indoors by throwing on a gymnastics mat or pillow.
You still need to make sure she is doing good mechanics. Bending, full arm follow through, releasing the ball off the fingers. All these things need to be monitored initially and then spot checked throughout the week.
1. She can self measure how hard she is throwing by watching the bounce. Or by seeing how much of a divot she makes in grass.
2. Focus on controlling the bounce so the ball doesn't bounce away (works on throwing accuracy)
3. She can do this alone. 50 balls every other day. Can be done indoors by throwing on a gymnastics mat or pillow.
You still need to make sure she is doing good mechanics. Bending, full arm follow through, releasing the ball off the fingers. All these things need to be monitored initially and then spot checked throughout the week.
