10U v 12U Travel Ball

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My DD will be moving up to 12U (11U) next season. I know that this means DD will be using the 12" ball (instead of the 11") and that the pitching distance is now 40 feet instead of 35 feet. What are the other differences between 10U v 12U? Any insight is appreciated!

 

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Interesting question - we will be going through the same thing. My DD and I have done a couple of pitching workouts and I see a couple of things - the bigger, heavier ball has had a noticeable effect when we get beyond 60 or so pitches. She said her fingers, wrist and forearm feels tired. I know that she will get used to it. The distance has not been a problem. Can't wait to hear other peoples experiences.

 

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Been about 9 years since I looked, but there used to be differences in the rules on base stealing depending on the sanctioning body - those may have been removed by now. Biggest change I remember though (again it's been a while) was the difference between an 11U and a 12U player in strength, size and general athletic ability.

 

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The other, at least in USSSA I found, was the dropped third strike rule. In 10U, out. In 12U, merry go rounds start... 11U is when the catcher development is as important as the pitchers. Those that played ASA at 10U have a big jump on those that didn't.

 

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Like Bear said is the pyhisical maturity the some girls you are going to face will be 13 years old depending on the birthdate, big difference they will adapt my dd did it this year.

 

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What about bats (primarily weight). Any recommendation on these or is it strictly the girl's preference based upon size and swing speed? Seems like some of the bats used with the 11" ball at u10 do not hit the 12" ball nearly as wel, slower/deader hits, not going as far...It could be tough for an 11 year old to not only jump up to a heavier bat, batting off girls that are 12-13 opposed to 10-11 who pitching faster (although the pitcher's mound difference is 5 feet further away, so this could offset the speed a bit).

 

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Good point Chippewas13 "offset speed a bit", dd pitched last night for the first time with the bigger ball and at 40ft and we did notice a drop in speed....guess we will have to see what happens in the off season

 

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Good point Chippewas13 "offset speed a bit", dd pitched last night for the first time with the bigger ball and at 40ft and we did notice a drop in speed....guess we will have to see what happens in the off season

Speed will drop for the first few weeks and then start to pick back up. By the time spring rolls around she'll be back to where she was and maybe a little faster as most girls will grow quite a bit over the winter at this age.

 

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My DD uses a 32" 22oz at 10u so bat size for her is fine. She says as a hitter the ball is easier to see at 40ft.

 

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We have been lucky - within one pitching session we were back up to the same speed at pitching. We are focused now on what has been a great start at changeups and spins as we surely wont be the fastest pitcher out there this year movement will help us out.

 

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DD had a pitching lesson and her coach put the 14" ball in her hand at the beginning and then switched her to the 12" ball...it made the 12" ball not seem at big. Coach said same thing, within a few weeks, she will be used to the bigger ball.

 

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We have been lucky - within one pitching session we were back up to the same speed at pitching. We are focused now on what has been a great start at changeups and spins as we surely wont be the fastest pitcher out there this year movement will help us out.

You are correct; my DD went through that last year to this and the movement and change ups have kept her fired up and she has progressed so much. YOU WILL HAVE FUN :yahoo: watching her improve.

 

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The first thing that I noticed when DD went up was that at 12u it seems to be a hitters game. My DD was a strike out pitcher at 10u and then at 11 even though her speed was still very good and location was good the hitting was better. And even as we finished our run at 12u this year at ASA nationals there was a lot of really good pitchers getting hit and hit hard. Although the defenses were very good and did not allow alot of base runners. That seems to be the hard thing for pitchers that come up that have not played up any as 10s. They do not blow the ball by hitters any mor and what worked last year is not going to work as often this year.

 

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I would agree with what X-Static said, I think the fact that you have 11 yr. olds playing against 13 yr. olds makes a big difference. The older kids are more developed and it shows where the hitting is concerned. There are other differences as well, such as bunt coverage (much better in 12u) and defense in general (getting lead runners for example). Outfielders are more developed. You could go on and on. My DD had no problem adapting to the bigger ball (she is a pitcher). I think the hitting being stronger was more of an issue, she did not allow a lot of hits in 10u, and had to adapt to getting hit up a little bit in 12u.

 

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everybody hits yeehaw

 

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I have always maintained that a team of 11s is the most difficult age. Most of the 10-U teams are older or have a mix of older and younger. So a team of 11s is the toughest because the difference between 11s and 12s is bigger than any other difference in travel ball. The difference between 17s and 18s is small, but you can just look at a 12-U team and tell whether they are an old or a young team.

Only an 11-U team with a great pitcher or a ridiculous amount of talent (Laser Gold last year) will do really well. I often tried to explain that to parents, but most didn't want to hear it or believe it.

 

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I agree with most - the big difference is the maturity and size of the girls at 12U compared to 10U. Some girls have already gone through their growth spurt and are big 12Us - and that's not counting the girls who turn 13 during the season.
Defenses are better, the hitting is better, bunt coverage more disciplined and there are some catchers out there who people don't want to run on. Not to mention the pitching. At 10U you have to worry about a fastball and a changeup that is still being refined. At 12U, pitchers not only have the fastball and change up, but some have pretty nasty drop balls.
With the change in distance for pitchers and the overall make up of the game, it may be tougher to move from 10U to 12U than 12U to 14U.
Keep her head up because eventually they catch up with the speed of the game.
But, the people who think they are going to bring a good U10 team up to U12 and dominate are in for rude awakenings early in the season.

 

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I have worked with the 10U Static Team coaches Les, Tom and Shannon and several of the girls from their team. Before we ever taught hitting mechanics we taught them how to throw first so they would understand a weight shift or how to shift their weight so they would use their legs to throw and hit.You could start a whole thread on why the girls do not allow their back leg to come around or release and it boils down to a flexed front leg.

It makes a huge difference and it becomes easier to draw analogies to such as when we get to toe touch we separate our hands rearward just like when we what and the hitter responds throwing and what are we developing and they will say momentum...I have not found any short cuts because if they hit ugly they throw ugly.

 

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everybody hits yeehaw

:lmao:

 

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The biggest difference we have noticed with our daughter having moved up from 10U to 12U this past year is the physical difference in a lot of the girls. Our daughter is 11, and a smaller girl...the physical difference between 11 year olds and 13 year olds can be MASSIVE, and it can make a BIG difference. We played quite a few 2nd year 12U teams, with mostly 13 year olds, and some of those girls were big...not heavy, but just physically 3-6 inches taller than my daughter, and a good 25-50 pounds heavier just due to growth spurt/puberty. My dd is a solid player, but she just physically does not have the girth to hit as hard/far or throw as fast as some of the older girls. Good luck, and hope her transition is a good one!