Rising Stars Pitchng speeds

[AimHigh]

I was talking to a D1 HC over the weekend at a big midwestern exposure tournament. He guns a lot of pitchers and he is reporting that speeds are generally down. His comment: "I'm seeing a lot of 56's". I asked him if he had a theory. His reply: "not sure" he speculated that some coaches think that spin pitches are being taught too young and too much and that less time was being spent on developing speed.

He also said its becoming harder for mid-majors to get top quality pitchers with upper end speed as there are fewer of them and the big schools offer quickly. Finally, he lamented the tendency for big schools to offer younger and younger players as it is hard to project how they will develop.

 

[CoachFP]

Spin is the easiest part of the pitching equation. It is getting into proper form that requires the most dedication. Once form is close to perfect it is easier to get someone spinning the ball a certain way. This coach may be right because I have seen ways taught to spin a rise ball that actually limits the student's ability to throw the darn thing hard because of the emphasis on "pulling" up on the ball instead of throwing it.

 

[AimHigh]

I'm not sure about reasons for reported speed loss, as I'm not a PC, but the scuttlebut is interesting.

 

[chinamigarden]

I was talking to a D1 HC over the weekend at a big midwestern exposure tournament. He guns a lot of pitchers and he is reporting that speeds are generally down. His comment: "I'm seeing a lot of 56's". I asked him if he had a theory. His reply: "not sure" he speculated that some coaches think that spin pitches are being taught too young and too much and that less time was being spent on developing speed.

He also said its becoming harder for mid-majors to get top quality pitchers with upper end speed as there are fewer of them and the big schools offer quickly. Finally, he lamented the tendency for big schools to offer younger and younger players as it is hard to project how they will develop.

He needs to start gunning more 12u tourneys. I hear thats where all the 60+MPH throwers are.

 

[Coach JV]

He needs to start gunning more 12u tourneys. I hear thats where all the 60+MPH throwers are.

This is absolutely gospel!

My dd is clocked using the REV-Fire. She just turned 15 and is consistently at 60-61 with FB
and her rise is 56-57. I do not have a lot of information on the theory behind rev fire, but
I believe the speed when set at pitch distance of 43' is calculated from the release point which
for argument sake is 38'. When I clock her with pocket radar she is 56-57 on the FB. Both methods are
very consistent as far as speed readings, but her PC (former college coach) insists that speed
doesn't matter if you can't locate your pitches. She prefers the reading off rev-fire vs radar gun.

The last 3 games summary DD threw at 16U this summer are: 13IP 1 ER 27K's 2 BB.
Whose theory does this support? I believe she throws at 55-57 in games. With her stats,
does it matter if she throws 57 or 61?

These numbers are down from when she was 11 and threw 65+

 

[tmolina]

At 12u PGF and 12u TCS the fastest pitchers I seen(I would have sworn were hitting 60mph) were 57mph. Most were 49-52. I seen two pitchers at 52-54 win alot of games with great location, a decent change up and one movement pitch that worked consistently, one threw a great curve and other a cut fastball that tailed away from plate late.

 

[JAD]

This is absolutely gospel!

My dd is clocked using the REV-Fire. She just turned 15 and is consistently at 60-61 with FB
and her rise is 56-57. I do not have a lot of information on the theory behind rev fire, but
I believe the speed when set at pitch distance of 43' is calculated from the release point which
for argument sake is 38'.

The REV-Fire is a timing device with a sensor in the ball that detects when the ball is release and when it is caught by the catcher. It is usually accurate to within 1-2 MPH, but the readings can be scewed if the catcher is set up deep or shallow in the box, or reaches. If memory serves me correctly, the instructions state the catcher should be set up @ 3 ft behind home plate, therefore, if you are set up right on top of the plate the speed readings will be faster. Most pitching coaches prefer the rev fire to radar guns because they also get a RPM reading on the pitch.
These days most pitching coaching would trade a couple of MPH for more RPMs.

 

[dadof7]

At 12u PGF and 12u TCS the fastest pitchers I seen(I would have sworn were hitting 60mph) were 57mph. Most were 49-52. I seen two pitchers at 52-54 win alot of games with great location, a decent change up and one movement pitch that worked consistently, one threw a great curve and other a cut fastball that tailed away from plate late.

Your observations of speed are very close to what I've seen from the 12U and 16U teams that my kids teams have played against on the east coast. Best pitcher at 12u I saw was on the VA Crushers. Played them several times. Top end 54 -56 mph, with very good location, using the pocket radar. I also use a glove radar on my catchers glove. It reads velocity within 20 inches of glove. I use both to track pitch speed out of the hand and then at the glove. I read on the forums somewhere that velocity can drop as much as 1mph/7ft. My observations using the two devices tend to support this.