Pitching and Pitchers Discussion Did 43 feet ruin the game?

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A couple years ago, Dads, coaches and others were dead set against moving the pitchers from 40 feet to 43 feet.
They claimed it was going to add significantly to the run totals, ruin pitchers arms etc etc etc.
Did it?
I went to the district finals at Picktown and didn`t see much difference at all.

 

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A resounding NO from me, 43 feet added balance to the game where at least most teams have to play some D to win. Still a pitchers game but at least she needs a team to back her... can you imagine 72 MPH ay 40 feet ?

 

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I think it made it a more interesting game for both sides. MD is correct about needing the field behind the pitcher though (in HS ball). ;& Also would liked to have seen ASA go to 43 at 14u since you are dealing with a lot of freshmen. Spikes also at 14u since HS allows them.

 

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A resounding NO from me, 43 feet added balance to the game where at least most teams have to play some D to win. Still a pitchers game but at least she needs a team to back her... can you imagine 72 MPH ay 40 feet ?

MD, I cant imagine 72mph at 43 feet..lol

 

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MD, I cant imagine 72mph at 43 feet..lol

I hear there's a 9U stud playing for Bugtussle Elite Gold throwing 71 from 35 ft.

 

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High school JV and below could have stayed at 40 feet IMO. There simply are not a lot of pitchers in hs with good speed and movement to balance the bats.

 

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High school JV and below could have stayed at 40 feet IMO.

I respectfully disagree. JV to me should be about preparing for Varsity. There is an adjustment when you move from 40 to 43. JV is a great time to learn how to deal with it.

Personally, I like the 43' distance. I'm still seeing a good mix of dominant and not-so-dominant pitching.

 

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MD, I cant imagine 72mph at 43 feet..lol

Punchout,
You obviously haven't watched any Portsmouth ND Jr. High games.

 

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I hear there's a 9U stud playing for Bugtussle Elite Gold throwing 71 from 35 ft.

Her parents keep calling me. I tell her that when she picks up some mph to give me a call.

 

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I respectfully disagree. JV to me should be about preparing for Varsity. There is an adjustment when you move from 40 to 43. JV is a great time to learn how to deal with it.

Personally, I like the 43' distance. I'm still seeing a good mix of dominant and not-so-dominant pitching.

Also some kids move up and down between JV and Varsity. Having different differences would make that a problem.

 

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I think they should move it back a couple more feet to honest, as long as they keep the arc at under 10 feet like slow pitch!!!

 

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Not sure if most of you follow JV, but a big issue. Few schools have lights and now with all the runs it is getting difficult to finish a game. Hitting has caught up with the great pitchers. Good example Keystone Lagrange this year in high school. I think they set a team home run record. They did it against some good teams. We keep accurate stats , not like some, and set a team record BA this year with two freshman around 400.

 

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Not sure if most of you follow JV, but a big issue. Few schools have lights and now with all the runs it is getting difficult to finish a game.

Hmm...we finished every inning of every game. All of our games started between 4:15 and 4:30 so maybe others start later? I can't recall darkness being even remotely an issue this year, even in the few blowouts that occurred.

 

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Punchout,
You obviously haven't watched any Portsmouth ND Jr. High games.

LOL I`m sure there are some stud pitchers who are deceptively fast....

 

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I remember some stats out of Florida, because I think they went to 43 before we did. 1.6 runs a game difference between the transition years. I will stay with my original thoughts..The great pitchers will still be great, the good ones will still be good and the bad ones will still be bad.

 

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Hmm...we finished every inning of every game. All of our games started between 4:15 and 4:30 so maybe others start later? I can't recall darkness being even remotely an issue this year, even in the few blowouts that occurred.

Darkness wasn't our issue, but the JV took more than 3 hours to get a game in that went 8 or 9 innings with more than 20 runs per team. The 5 inning run-rule games sometimes took more than 2 hours.

 

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Hmm...we finished every inning of every game. All of our games started between 4:15 and 4:30 so maybe others start later? I can't recall darkness being even remotely an issue this year, even in the few blowouts that occurred.

All games in the Dayton area start at 5pm.

 

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Darkness wasn't our issue, but the JV took more than 3 hours to get a game in that went 8 or 9 innings with more than 20 runs per team. The 5 inning run-rule games sometimes took more than 2 hours.

You are blaming 40 runs on 3 extra feet? I`d say it was poor pitching and decent hitting and possibly poor fielding.. Probably would have been a similar score from 40 feet.

 

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I haven't seen a ton of HS games since 43' was instituted, but the games I have seen haven't changed much since 40'. The strong pitchers are still dominant, the 4 - 5 hitters on most HS teams are somewhat better, but the 4 - 5 weak hitters are still there too. Now as always - the teams that are lucky enough to get a top shelf travel pitcher and a good share of strong travel kids who work smart on their hitting skills are STILL the dominant teams. 40', 43' or 60'6", it doesn't matter - you are toast without quality pitching. The scoring party starts when those 4 - 5 decent HS hitters get a weaker than average battery and string a bunch of hits/walks/stolen bases together.

IMO, the biggest differences are more from kids at ALL positions working harder on their skills than from the 3' added to the pitching distance. The longer distance hardly affects the top pitchers - if anything, it helps their movement pitches. However, the weak pitchers are actually in mortal danger against the best hitters. I absolutely cringe seeing a 50 - 53 mph pitcher throwing fat pitches over the white for experienced hitters.

 

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Darkness wasn't our issue, but the JV took more than 3 hours to get a game in that went 8 or 9 innings with more than 20 runs per team. The 5 inning run-rule games sometimes took more than 2 hours.

IM a JV coach and our games started at 5 and were over around 7. only had one go until 8 and it was a 16-11 win! Just seemed like forever and I started taking chances to teach the girls a bit more about hustle the longer it lasted just trying to get an out!:yahoo:I couldnt imagine all year being like that....