Pitcher's parents / 43 ft

[GOINGDEEP]

Just wondering how some of the pitcher's parents feel about the recent change in some organizations ( 16u ) and HS ball moving to 43'. I have mixed emotions.

This will be our HS first year moving to 43'. The info that I have gathered is the National governing body of HS sports had pressure from both the parents and colleges to make the move. Of coarse the colleges wanted the move to give prospective pitchers experience at college distance. ( I understand that ) The 'fielder's' parents wanted more game experience for the fielders. ( expecting more hits with the increased distance )

Some have implied it is a safety factor for the pitchers, to give them more reaction time for shots back at them. But I'd rather take the chance of LESS hits at 40' than MORE hits at 43'.

Also I have got wind of some travel organizations ( I won't mention names ) considering moving 14u to 43' in 2011. Even our middle school moved to 43' in 2010. ( meaning 11/12/13/14 year olds pitching at college distance ) I think that is overkill. So what's next, moving 8u to 40'?

Just my opinion, I feel the younger DD's (12u to 16u) need that 40' to work on mechanics and learning the new pitches. That would still allow most 2 years in 18u to pitch the college distance for preparation. And of coarse ANYONE who chooses to pitch 18u at 13-16 years old would have the option of 43' instead of forcing the 43' on the ones that don't.

How do you feel?

 

[ifubuildit]

I do not think that 43 feet will equate to more hits. What I found with my daughter was the extra 3 feet allowed her ball to break even more which made it harder to hit. I do think it may give them a split second more for reaction but its still giong to be hit hard if the kid is any kind of hitter.

Dana.

 

[GOINGDEEP]

I do not think that 43 feet will equate to more hits. What I found with my daughter was the extra 3 feet allowed her ball to break even more which made it harder to hit. I do think it may give them a split second more for reaction but its still giong to be hit hard if the kid is any kind of hitter.[/QUOTE

I agree to an extent, my DD pitches are breaking more at 43'. But, also disagree on more hits.

Here is the NFHS post on 43'.

The new pitching distance was one of four rules revisions made by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) Softball Rules Committee at its annual meeting June 8-10 in Indianapolis. The rules changes subsequently were approved by the NFHS Board of Directors.
Although the new pitching distance is mandatory beginning with the 2010-11 school year, NFHS-member state high school associations may adopt the 43-feet distance in 2009-10, if desired.
After at least 10 years of debate by committee members, the NFHS has extended the fast-pitch pitching distance to 43 feet. The change to Rule 1-1-2b was made after two member state associations experimented with 43 feet – Florida for four years and Oregon for one year. Coaches surveyed within these states were overwhelmingly supportive of the change.
Creating a better balance between the offense and the defense was the major rationale for the rule change. Experimentation results from both states indicated more batted balls were hit into play.
“Our main thrust is getting the defense more involved,” said Mary Struckhoff, NFHS assistant director and liaison to the Softball Rules Committee. “When more balls are hit into play, the defense is more involved in the game, thus enhancing skill development.”


And as a father, I know for a fact it is easier on this old man to catch mine at 43' than 40'. So if my reactions are better, just think how a young batter's reactions will be.

 

[sluggers]

In general, the HS pitching isn't very good. Bad pitching at 40 feet is going to be awful pitching at 43 feet. Parents are going to find out quickly that DDs' six breaking pitches don't break.
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[GOINGDEEP]

In general, the HS pitching isn't very good. Bad pitching at 40 feet is going to be awful pitching at 43 feet. Parents are going to find out quickly that DDs' six breaking pitches don't break.
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Yes, the norm is HS pitching is average. But here, all the top traveling pitchers 14/16/18 pitch in HS. But my post was not just HS related.

This got to be a pretty heated conversation at our last HS Booster Club meeting. Of coarse the pitcher's dads didn't like it at all, the other 20 field players and parents loved it.

My point was why the rush? Why are we 'looking at' moving KIDS ( 11/12/13/14/15/16 ) as middle school, and 14u/16u travel to 43'. ( HS I can kinda understand because of the BIG age gap. But I still don't agree with it. ) These are kids that have not physically or mentally matured, being forced to pitch at college distances. At least in college most girls are physically 'grown'. Heck, why not just let them start driving at 14 too?

If the intent of NFHS or ASA is to make the defense more involved, why not simply work on making the batter's better?

So if the wind blows the way it has been presented to me by people in high places.........8/10u will pitch 35'. 12u will be at 40'. Then 14u and up at 43' starting 2011. So IDK, I think we try to make these kids grow up too fast. Let them mature at their own level and pace. It seems to have worked for 30+ years so why change?

Edited

I also am going to make a prediction that the 43' move will have an adverse effect of what it is intended to do. I think nation wide you will see more infielders hurt due to more balls put into play. I pray I am wrong.

 

[CoachFP]

So going from 40 to 43 feet will harm 14 y/o pitching? If you are pitching 55mph, it is 55mph from 40 and 43 feet. It will just take a little longer to get to home plate at 43 feet. 43 feet is the standard pitching distance and the sooner girls start throwing from that distance the better. At 14U most girls are pretty mature and quite frankly few of them get any faster after that age.

 

[GOINGDEEP]

So going from 40 to 43 feet will harm 14 y/o pitching? If you are pitching 55mph, it is 55mph from 40 and 43 feet. It will just take a little longer to get to home plate at 43 feet. 43 feet is the standard pitching distance and the sooner girls start throwing from that distance the better. At 14U most girls are pretty mature and quite frankly few of them get any faster after that age.

I didn't say it would 'harm' their pitching. I'm not sure what you meant by that?

Physics 101, if you throw 55 from 40' does not equate 55 at 43'. Got to factor distance and resistance. Even a bullet looses speed over distance, and a softball is much larger with more drag.

If the sooner the better, why not start 8u at 43'? That would give them 10 years to master the distance. Why don't we just move the bases to 40' and the rubber to 50' so EVERYBODY can hit and get on base?

My DD will be fine, we pitched 43' 16/18u this fall at 14 years old. Undefeated. I know others that will be fine. Some mature quicker than others. I think the 43' at 18u was a good OPTION for the elite pitchers of any age group to ELECT to play in. Forcing the others that are not ready is a bad decision. For those DD's that need those extra couple of years at 40' to master their pitches will truly miss that valuable time.

Again I appreciate the input, this is just my opinion.

 

[Ken Krause]

It does seem like it's getting out of hand. This game is tough enough to learn without making it harder. It shouldn't have any effect on the elite level pitchers. But by definition that's only 10%. It's the kids who don't develop early or who only have average abilities that worry me. They will find it harder to pitch effectively, and that may discourage them from continuing to pitch. That leaves fewer pitchers in the pool, making it difficult for more teams to compete. It also gives more advantage to the teams that do have the elite pitchers who can handle the distance. You'd like to think they'd only be playing each other but we all know that's not the case.

So what's the long-term outlook? One possibility is fewer kids playing fastpitch softball. It's already getting tougher in some areas to get kids out to play softball. I don't think this will help.

 

[GOINGDEEP]

Ken, I'm sure you have much more experience than me. Glad to see you agree. I worry about these young pitcher's minds. It's tuff for me as a pitching coach to assure the young pitchers ( 11-14 years old ) that the pitches I teach them will work, when they might get shelled at 43', and might not at 40'.

I still agree with the OPTION of 43' at 18u level, if you desire. But feel 43' at 14u is a bit too much.

Thanks for the input.

 

[xxxYerOut]

Great timing with this topic. DD just asked me the about the same thing just yesterday. What we are seeing is the 14u being divided at the HS level. If the girls are pitching from 40' at 14u, but 43' in HS (freshman). after the HS season she will have to go back to 40' if she stays at 14u or move up to 16u to stay at 43'.