top 12u pitchers ???

[razmataz]

I have read some of the doubting thomas experts on this forum so I will give more info. I said a girl from upstate SC hit 62-64 mph (on a radar gun in Tenn. 3-4 months ago). This was at a ? little league/babe ruth 12u regional semi/finals. This girl is 13 now, and is a lefty, and plays for carolina Elite (16u), affiliated with USC-upstate. This was told to me by our TB coach, who was the asst. coach on that team, who said someone else clocked her? college scout perhaps, she was known to throw around that speed before. Wont say her name here without her dads consent.
I then said ELITE travel ball pitchers in our area (SC/ southern NC,) throw mid 50's, and good TB pitchers 50, but have other pitches. My DD is 13, wieghs 85 lbs, and avgs 46-49 fastball, her best pitch is a somewhat natural screwball, that darts in on girls, at this age they have a hard time hitting this pitch. This pitch and her curve are probably few mph slower than her FB. She is 2nd-3rd pitcher on her TB team depending on the day/coaches mood/ and her mood She is considered change of pace by the coach because the other pitchers throw 3-5 mph faster,( they are also about 35-45 lbs heavier).

 

[Coachmom]

How about this radar gun??

 

[howellhandmade]

SNIP One of the marks of an expert pitcher is that she is consistent during the game. You don't have that with young pitchers.

What I think I know consisting mainly of what I've heard others say, I find that an interesting observation. I've heard coaches say that the mark of an expert pitcher is the ability to vary speed more subtly than simple fast/slow. Not so? Or do you mean the variation that occurs as a young pitcher starts out fast and then tires?

One brute force way to check a radar gun is with a car. Requires an accomplice driving the car, of course. You can use a tuning fork, too, but it requires a special fork -- the usual A440 one registers too low a speed. It seems widely accepted that you can expect a spread of +/- 1 or 2 mph with handheld radar, but I don't think it matters that much what a gun says, it's just part of the picture and there's no need to be overly impressed by a high number (subtract 4 if you're skeptical) or discouraged by a low one (add 4 if it makes you feel better). Otherwise, the teams would just send their pitchers out on the field like David and the one that radars faster wins. My DD went to one tryout where the coach told her to warm up and then gave her 8 pitches on the gun. Said he didn't care where they went, he wanted 50 mph. Maybe his gun was inaccurate, but if he's comparing pitcher to pitcher on the same gun over 8 pitches it's at least apples to apples and it's his team, he can pick 'em however he wants.

Frankly, with my 11yo daughter I'm not that worried about her speed, I'm more interested in her learning proper form and learning how to apply as much force as she can without hurting herself. I use my pocket radar now and then at practices when the other pitchers are being clocked, too, but she gets clocked at her weekly pitching clinic and that's enough. She's closing in on 50mph, which her team coach seems to think is important. I've told her that yes she should always try to improve speed but not to put the number ahead of using her body right. As soon as she has 50 a coach will want 55. As soon as she has 55 somebody will want 60. I want her to be able to comb her hair when she's 40.

 

[howellhandmade]

How about this radar gun??

Heh, heh, that plays rather to Screwball's point than to mine. Cute video, though.

 

[YOCOACH]

Ummm...Speed limits are posted in KMH not KMS so just an average of 65 KMH roughly equals 40.39 MPH. How is this special? Is she 8u? Just sayin...

 

[howellhandmade]

I think it was just a fun video following up on the (in)accuracy of radar. I doubt anybody thought it was 68mph -- dad would have been wearing full gear for one thing. : )

 

[razmataz]

The tail of the pitch(drop), the glove she is wearing, the jacket, and her mechanics make it unlikely she is throwing that hard.

 

[howellhandmade]

The tail of the pitch(drop), the glove she is wearing, the jacket, and her mechanics make it unlikely she is throwing that hard.

Merely unlikely? : ) Not to snap on the kid, she's clearly having fun. And the Law of Parsimony says she's having fun in Canada.

 

[sluggers]

That said, the super giant is super rare, and most of the kids in the top echelon at every level are ordinary except for their above-average willingness to practice.

You've watched "Rudy" once too often. Athletics at the top is about (1) natural talent and (2) work ethic. If a kid doesn't have both, they won't be in the top group.

 

[howellhandmade]

You've watched "Rudy" once too often. Athletics at the top is about (1) natural talent and (2) work ethic. If a kid doesn't have both, they won't be in the top group.

Never watched Rudy once, I'm talking about my own experience as a teacher. We might turn out to disagree about what really can be defined as natural talent, but I'm not talking about the top, I'm talking about the many layers that lead to the top. To be more specific, the 12 year old layer. That's too early to tell any kid she's not going to be great at something she loves. Even if you're sure she's not. Or to offer a college scholarship, even if she throws 60mph. Good things can happen to bodies and brains; bad things can happen to work ethics.