What's a good home-to-first time? Home-to-home?

[CoogansBluff]

I've found a few other threads on this subject, but none seem to form a consensus. If this subject has been covered well, hopefully somebody can tip me off on where to find it.

Saw these benchmarks from Cindy Bristow a couple of years ago for college players. Seems very fast to me, but I guess she's talking major D-I. By this measure, I'd bet 80 percent of 18U travel players are ''slow.''

Player

Then I found this from one of the Heartland Showcases, which I assume measure high school players who want to play in college. None of them broke 3.0 in a 20-yard sprint.

https://nfca.org/index.php/recruiti...eartland-showcase-grip-agility-speed-velocity

So any good guesses on what's fast for the different age groups? 14U, 15U, 18U, college?

Curious for both home-to-first and also home-to-home.

 

[riseball]

Always felt anything under 3.0/12.0 was decent. Like catcher pop times there can be wide variance based on the collection method. I have gone to using a video frame count which is about as accurate as it gets.

 

[Easton33]

Watched a D1 game this fall and was real close to backstop, I timed the lefty drag bunter from contact to base in like 2.7. I was not watching her but instead I looked down and started the clock when I heard her make contact then I looked up and stopped when she hit 1st base.

 

[CoogansBluff]

Always felt anything under 3.0/12.0 was decent. Like catcher pop times there can be wide variance based on the collection method. I have gone to using a video frame count which is about as accurate as it gets.

The collection method is key. DD's team is filling out a profile, and it asks for those times. Makes me think it would be about as meaningful as posting a batting average. What does it really mean?

 

[CoogansBluff]

Watched a D1 game this fall and was real close to backstop, I timed the lefty drag bunter from contact to base in like 2.7. I was not watching her but instead I looked down and started the clock when I heard her make contact then I looked up and stopped when she hit 1st base.

That's really moving. And I know there are college players that fast. Just skeptical that they're all moving 3.0 or better.

 

[CoogansBluff]

So, how much does speed change from 9th grade in high school to freshman year in college? How much improvement is realistic? I know it depends partly on how fit and trained the athlete is to begin with.

 

[grounded]

Always curious about this myself...the times I see are usually all over the place. I know how they time is critical. DD ran last yr and I thought did pretty good for a 13yr old. Not elite speed, but upper half i like to think. Without an "official" time, kinda meaningless though. If I remember right, Bristow's list has like 2.6 to 1st as fast, which I find ridiculously fast

 

[iMlearning]

time

Watched a D1 game this fall and was real close to backstop, I timed the lefty drag bunter from contact to base in like 2.7. I was not watching her but instead I looked down and started the clock when I heard her make contact then I looked up and stopped when she hit 1st base.

That's really moving. And I know there are college players that fast. Just skeptical that they're all moving 3.0 or better.

I don't know if this helps but at a recent D1 clinic working on double plays from 3rd, their team goal was 3.0 or lower. Must be for a reason

 

[grounded]

I do think 3.0 will get you about half the field, but under that the numbers begin to get murky I think.

 

[CoogansBluff]

With the standards that Bristow posts, she says ''times are from a standing start at home.'''

Does mean in the batter's box? One foot on home plate? One foot behind home plate? What is ''home''? And if it is one particular plate, then why are the times different for lefties and righties?

And if you're filling out a profile, wouldn't you be slower or faster depending on whether the 20-yard dash is on a track? On grass? On the infield? Is the infield soft or firm? If you're talking 1/10's of a second, those factors could mean the difference between slow (3.1) and good (2.8).