Pitching and Pitchers Discussion 10U Pitcher Speed

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I find these speeds being mentioned highly unlikely. I could see a 10u get close to 50 but would have to be a big girl. Everyone overestimates the speed.
My team faces Jim Yates a highly respected and decorated pitcher quite a bit and even though you would swear he is over 70mph most of time he is high 60's.
I am going to say flat out that if a 10u girl is throwing over 50 regularly they will be stricking out a whole lot of batters. And if they can throw a change up forget about it.

 

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I posted a similar message on here a few weeks ago but once again just want to set the record straight regarding the Indiana Thunder pitcher. I'm one of the coaches of the "93" Thunder team and have had the pleasure of watching Erin pitch for 3+ years now. While she is one of the best for her age that I've seen, she rely's as much on location and movement as she doe's velocity. Last year she was throwing consistently around 49-52mph but definitely no where near 60. The hardest 10U thrower that I've ever seen played for the Indiana Vipers 2 years ago and now is a 2nd year 12U for the Diamond Chix. She was consistently mid-fifties as a 10U and dominant. She had a major transition to make last year with the added distance and bigger ball---had to learn to pitch instead of just blowing it past people, I'm sure she'll be tough this year. I think the transition will be easier for Erin since she's never really just relied upon her speed.

 

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You Go Sammy, how about a ten year old 55 mph rise???

 

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Show me the money. Video, please? The world is flat... The moon is made of green cheese... Video shows otherwise. It's even easier here.

 

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I have for years enjoyed the, "she throws (fill in a number over 60)" threads, and the speed claims.

David Beckham makes a point that IMHO is the only claims I will believe, objective 3rd parties with a calibrated gun in a situation in which the pitcher is throwing to the gun with a number of other pitchers, all with the same conditions.

Like an NFCA Administered recruting camp.......

2007 Sparkler - NFCA Recruiting Camp

130 Pitchers (arguably top pitchers with some others thrown in, but clearly a large number of outstanding players!)

Pitchers that threw at least ONE FB 60 or better = 30
Pitchers that threw BOTH FB 60 or better = 12
Pitchers from above that threw ONE pitch 62 or better=7
of that number pitchers that threw BOTH 62 or better=2 (62&63 and 62&64)

Puts the 65mph claims in perspective, having said that we have had girls at the Sparkler Camp and at the Carolina Dynamite Camp, be gunned at in one case 65-64, and 63-62. One girl was at last check 8-1 at a D1 school as a sophomore and the other signed in Nov '07 with a top 10 program.

What is average?

Well since you asked....LOL!!

Pitchers that threw ONE pitch 60 or better and one pitch 57 to 59= 18

Not including anyone that threw a pitch 60 or better(so that leaves 100 pitchers)

Pitchers that threw both pitches 57 to 59 =20
Pitchers that threw one pitch 57 to 59 and one pitch 53 to 56 = 24
100 pitchers 44 threw at least one pitch 57 to 59

Pitchers that threw both pitches 53 to 56=39
5 pitchers didn't throw a pitch over 52
12 threw one 50 to 52 and one 53 to 56

Somone that is better at me in statistics and averages will need to provide me with the answer as to what is average in this sampling, albeit my belief is that this would be average from an above average sampling.......huh?

Guess the point that jumps out at me is 60 is special....VERY special......yet it gets thrown around all the time, clearly 57 and above is plenty good enough to win games, 30 of 130 in an above average group is only 23% have the ability to throw a pitch 60+ in those conditions, when a player needs to focus on location and strikes, well think about it.





?

 

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The gun DOES matter. If your using a Bushnell that you bought at Dicks for $160 then you are wasting all of our time . If your not clocking with a Juggs that has ben calibrated then you have no real measure of the girls speed.

As a prospect at the Division 1 level min 60mph. of course alot of other factors will come into play also not just speed. but you get the point - if college coaches at the highest level are looking for 18 year olds that throw 60 and if you have good controll and pitches and throw in the mid 50's d2 & d3 are interested then why would you think that there is a 9 or 10 year old that is throwing 60+?

There are allways exceptions to the rules and there will allways be a fe-nom out there somewhere but they are far and few between.

 

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OP...good point!!!

Scooby26, seen the girl on the Indiana Vipers at 10U in 2006 and yes she was as fast as I've seen at 10U in the last 6 years. We referred to her as Big Burt??? Seen her pitch in a Muncie, Indiana tourney early in the year and again at NSA "A" Nationals In Columbus, Ohio at the end of the season. Someone had a Juggs gun on her (off and on for a whole game) and she was consistantly throwing at 50-52 MPH the entire game.

I find it hard to believe that anyone at 10U, outside of a half dozen pitchers from Cali or Texas playing ASA "A" Nats or a couple here in Ohio/Indiana (depending on the year), were throwing that hard, that consistant.

 

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"I seen a kid at states that was-a-throwing real hard, because the dust was just flyin' off the catcher's mitt!!" How long will this insanity go on?

I have a Bushnell which I used as a reference - to see the difference in speed from a change-up and fastball. I didn't put a lot of stock into the actual measured speed.

However, later I did an unscientific study with it - sort of an experiment. We went out on the freeway (I-270) and had my wife drive a few miles with the cruise set at 60 mph. I held the gun out the window and gunned many approaching overhead signs. Every single reading was either 59 or 60. Then, I used my video technique from the above post and counted frames from a pre-measured distance. Within 1 mph. I guess I got lucky and bought a Bushnell that was factory calibrated accurately.

OR - some of these guys that stand 30 degrees off line of the ball travel, or shoot through a chain link fence may be getting bad readings? Hmmm...

Still waiting for a 30 fps video clip. Oh, and one of a good rise ball too.

 

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Can anyone here say that they've actually compared a $600 jugs gun to a cheaper bushnell and found a drastic difference in readings? ?I agree that (in most cases) you get what you pay for - but can't imagine the bushnell being off by more than 1 or 2 mph. ?If I'm a college/pro scout I'm going to have the top dollar gun - but for my 10, 12, 14 year old DD I'll spend my money on a better glove, bat or game face. ?

 

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Tn Ts Dad

Last summer on my college team we used two different Bushnells. One was a couple of years old and one was new. We had several of our pitchers throw- both bushnells gave different readings - I'd say on average 4 and sometimes 6 mph diff. We then used our Juggs and knowing what our pitchers could actually throw it seemed to be dead on.

I aggree with you - if your not coaching or running a travel Assoc or something like that then I wouldn't go spend the $$ on a Juggs either- they are very expensive. My point was simply if your not using the right equipment then don't throw numbers around that some 9 or 10 year old is throwing 60 + unless you pre qualify it first. Because more than likley it isn't accurate.

 

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OK, other than your own ego or bragging rights, what use is those numbers to you? If it's to measure progress, then a cheapo gun will do as long as it is REPEATABLE to just measure the delta. MPH is nice to know but K's, hits, walks, ERA are better numbers to work with.

 

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I do have a question, where is the best place to position yourself to accuratly measure the speed with a gun. Had a coach stand behind my dd once, it was the only time I've ever seen this and not sure it was really accurate. Great point Ringer

 

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Thanks for the insight OP.

I think that's a good point Ringer - if my DD could throw 55 to 60 I wouldn't be here bragging about it - I'd be spending my time making sure she had the resources at her disposal to get her movement pitches down as well and lining up D1 colleges to see her.

 

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I agree with Ringer, I know my dd can throw hard, I just concentrate on location and technique........the rest usually takes care of itself.

 

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scooby26 : Thanks for posting the correct info. I went and read some of the info on Erin, with that movement and being a lefty perhaps all the hitters thought they were facing a 60MPH fastball. The 11 inch ball change , I have found out makes more of an impact than the extra 5 feet. Doesn't take them long to adjust.

 

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Bink said
[highlight]Scooby26, seen the girl on the Indiana Vipers at 10U in 2006 and yes she was as fast as I've seen at 10U in the last 6 years. We referred to her as Big Burt??? Seen her pitch in a Muncie, Indiana tourney early in the year and again at NSA "A" Nationals In Columbus, Ohio at the end of the season. Someone had a Juggs gun on her (off and on for a whole game) and she was consistantly throwing at 50-52 MPH the entire game.[/highlight]

I saw the other 12u Diamond Chix pitcher hit 57mph 2 out of three attempts @ the OSU camp this winter, if they have also added the Viper pitcher plus the fact the are a great hitting team these guy's will be scary.

 

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No problem, everybody within our organization is very proud of her and the teams accomplishments last season. She's a really good kid, who doesn't consider herself to be any more or less important than the rest of her teammates. While we realize a certain amount of hype and exaggeration will come with the success she has had, we'd just as soon wait until she's at least a teenager before labeling her a phenom .

Good luck this weekend to everybody finally getting outside!!!!

 

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ILS99

? If you've played in 4 tournaments and finished ?with 2 1st and 2 2nd, and one of the seconds was to the Indiana Dream you should consider your pitcher as you would call it a SHUT DOWN PITCHER! What do you expect someone that stikesout every batter in every game. It seems to me you have a pitcher thats better than 80 to 90% of the 10U travel teams out there (unless your winning all these game 10 to 9).Maybe instead of looking for another pitcher for worlds you should try replacing the whole team.

 

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Bink said
[highlight]Scooby26, seen the girl on the Indiana Vipers at 10U in 2006 and yes she was as fast as I've seen at 10U in the last 6 years. We referred to her as Big Burt??? Seen her pitch in a Muncie, Indiana tourney early in the year and again at NSA "A" Nationals In Columbus, Ohio at the end of the season. Someone had a Juggs gun on her (off and on for a whole game) and she was consistantly throwing at 50-52 MPH the entire game.[/highlight]

I saw the other 12u Diamond Chix pitcher hit 57mph 2 out of three attempts @ the OSU camp this winter, if they have also added the Viper pitcher plus the fact the are a great hitting team these guy's will be scary.

WOW ! Thats smokin ! Talked to our coach last night about this thread . I'm positive their were 2 10's right here in ohio throwing at 50-51 last year at the 10u level. The Lasers girl and our own Wild Thang pitcher from last year. Her pitching coach had the gun on her the whole workout this week , was 51-53 the whole night, this of course with the bigger ball at 40 feet. Interesting thread . I'm only guessing at the Laser girl's speed from last year, see seemed to throw as hard as our girl. Can someone verify ?. Dan

 

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I don't know any 10U pitchers but I don't doubt that there are a few that can hit the speeds mentioned on this thread, especially with the smaller ball. Players are beginning to train earlier these days and therefore get better earlier. For example my dd did not begin playing seriously until 7th grade. The good thing about this is that players get better younger but on the other hand they peak out earlier. Many players do not develope the skills needed to compete as they get older because mom, dad and the coach crave a 5.00 trophy each weekend. I have three kids which have all played sports and I can't tell you the number of 10U , 12U or 14U phenoms that have absolutely disappeard by hs age all because they did get a good fundamental foundation. They relied on being physically and mentally advanced for their age. My point is that I hope those people who are responsible for these young players look ahead, there is softball beyond this weekends tourney.