I am a big proponent of focusing on good mechanics and the speed will come. I have seen too many pitchers that only focus on pitch speed get hammered at the older age groups. A 60 MPH corkscrew fastball is a good pitch at 14U, at 16U that is batting practice.
Radar gun enemy
- Thread starter Crystal Brown
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I am a big proponent of focusing on good mechanics and the speed will come. I have seen too many pitchers that only focus on pitch speed get hammered at the older age groups. A 60 MPH corkscrew fastball is a good pitch at 14U, at 16U that is batting practice.
Well, I have seen this ALL too often during my softball career. Let me tell you what will happen. Pick from the following - A. Teams will cut your daughter, because of your husband. B. He will try to start a team. C. Your daughter will quit. D. You will leave him.
I have known people to sell their homes and put their daughter, in a different school, over one weekend's time.
Someone needs to get his attention, and I guess that is going to have to be you. Good luck. Sports should not be this way.
I have known people to sell their homes and put their daughter, in a different school, over one weekend's time.
Someone needs to get his attention, and I guess that is going to have to be you. Good luck. Sports should not be this way.
- Jan 22, 2011
- 1,633
- 113
I almost never use my pocket radar during practices. During games I'll bring it out for 3 to 5 pitches to get an idea of where my DD is cruising. I'm trying to get to the point where I bring it out about once every three weeks.
My radar gun might make it out 1x per month. I think my daughter muscles the ball too much when the gun comes out.
It's easy for us to say don't worry about speed. We all know that speed comes from proper mechanics etc..
But go to a college camp, travel tryout or varsity tryout and what's the first thing that comes out? Pocket Radar.
DD went to a D1 college camp this weekend. She was in the younger group as she is 14. They were scrimmaging and had the pitchers slotted for 2 innings each based on how fast they threw in the pitching station. DD was just working on Change and wasn't throwing hard.
They slotted her as the #3 pitcher in the game. I knew right away why.. the other 2 who were slotted 1st and 2nd were bringing it in the station.
At the scrimmage the HC and Assistant were behind home with the pocket radar. Gunned the first girl from each team. Took notes.
After they were both done the #2's came up and they were throwing low 50s. Coaches put away notes and pocket radar.
Then DD comes up and she is throwing 57-58. All of a sudden the radar comes out and the coaches head behind the backstop to take readings. The other #3 comes up on the other team. Gun goes away. Didn't see it again.
BTW the #4 pitchers had better location then both #1s... Speed wasn't there but location was good. When they were pitching the coaches walked off to check on the hitting stations.
Like it or not speed is very important to coaches in just about every higher level competition. I don't like it either but it is a fact.
But go to a college camp, travel tryout or varsity tryout and what's the first thing that comes out? Pocket Radar.
DD went to a D1 college camp this weekend. She was in the younger group as she is 14. They were scrimmaging and had the pitchers slotted for 2 innings each based on how fast they threw in the pitching station. DD was just working on Change and wasn't throwing hard.
They slotted her as the #3 pitcher in the game. I knew right away why.. the other 2 who were slotted 1st and 2nd were bringing it in the station.
At the scrimmage the HC and Assistant were behind home with the pocket radar. Gunned the first girl from each team. Took notes.
After they were both done the #2's came up and they were throwing low 50s. Coaches put away notes and pocket radar.
Then DD comes up and she is throwing 57-58. All of a sudden the radar comes out and the coaches head behind the backstop to take readings. The other #3 comes up on the other team. Gun goes away. Didn't see it again.
BTW the #4 pitchers had better location then both #1s... Speed wasn't there but location was good. When they were pitching the coaches walked off to check on the hitting stations.
Like it or not speed is very important to coaches in just about every higher level competition. I don't like it either but it is a fact.
If the coach knows about pitching or has a good pitching coach on staff, it's my opinion they look for speed 1st and think they can get them dialed in later when they get on campus. Not doubt about it, speed is a significant factor in recruiting. Personally I look for girls that hit spots and execute pitches 1st, speed is secondary.
I've noticed this with my DD too. That's why I've put the gun away for a bit and have her focused on getting good spins. I can tell when I catch her FB whether it has good velocity or not. I don't need a radar gun for that.
That can be an argument for having it out all the time.
You don't have to pay attention to it all the time though.
- Sep 29, 2014
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OK Crystal try this tell him you are willing to make a compromise. If he wants to be obsessed tell him he has be obsessed enough to do it like the big leagues he can use the radar gun every pitch if he wants but he has to do exactly what they do which is chart pitches for use as a post diagnostic tool. That means individual pitches don't matter what matters is averages. He should be trying to pick up on patterns, does she pitch faster on the days when she is coming off a day of rest. Does she pitch faster in games #2 of the day but not game #3. Is her drop consistently her fastest pitch? What is the difference is speed between her fastest pitch and her change up and is it consistent? And again preach to him SAMPLE SIZE matters. One inning, one game or even one tournament does not matter he needs a couple months worth of data before he can even think about drawing conclusions or patterns. Also this means he can't talk to his DD about pitch speed for at least the next two months and he can also tell her what he is doing so she knows the gun does not really mean anything.
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WARRIORMIKE
Pro-Staff Everything
I just use mine during practice only. Tried it once or twice at games and was no bueno. I think a few others are on the same page, but use the radar gun as a tool to get better, not for bragging .
