Pitching and Pitchers Discussion Expected Speed for a 10u Pitcher

[ChrisDennis13]

I looked for a similar post, but did not find one in my search. So if I missed it, I apologize in advance.

My daughter is 9.5 years old, she started pitching in March, after taking her to 3 pitching instructors, we settled on one in Late June. (Pandemic messed up our timeline). As you can imagine, those early months were rough. But once we found an instructor that our daughter felt comfortable with, she started making huge strides.

This instructor teaches in a 3 part order; Spin, Accuracy, Speed. My DD had Spin right away, good wrist snaps. So they worked on accuracy for 2 months. She now has 2 pitches (Fast and Change) that she can get into a catchers glove I would say at 85-90% of the time. Not all strikes, but she is always close to the box. Wild pitches (un-catch-able balls) is a rare occurrence now. Therefore, they are moving on to speed. They are working 4 strength drills to build core and leg strength.

Luckily, I have a friend who has a Pocket Couch Radar and let me borrow it this weekend. I wanted to get a baseline so that we can actually tell if she is picking up speed. She consistently pitches her fast ball at 37 mph. (a few 36's and a few 38's, but the vast majority was 37). My daughter set her own goal to be at 40 mph before Spring and her instructor thinks this is very doable.

My question is, what should a 10u player be throwing at? I have seen girls that look faster and girls that are slower, but that is all on feel not radar numbers. I have seen comments/ heard dads say their 10u girl is at about 50mph, but that seems unrealistic to me. We have seen a few dozen pitchers (last year in Rec fall ball and a few this summer in travel) and maybe 1 or 2 stand out as me as being really fast, but compared to a pitching machine turned to 45mph for batting, it was not faster than that.

Also, for the curious, her change was around 33mph.

 

[jt7663]

Do yourself & DD a favor & Don't get to caught up in the MPH It's a factor but not as much as that Off Speed Pitch. DD now 16u & has a very effective off speed. We see pitchers every weekend that throw Fast but don't mix speeds & they get timed up by Hitters pretty quickly. We chased all the MPH Goals 40... 50.... 60 just don't focus on that as the end all.

 

[Tallmadge Force Gold]

My experience is that 45-50MPH is considered "fast". Once in a while, you will run into that pitcher that throws above 50 but they are rare.

40MPH seems like the average speed for most 10U pitchers. That speed is the comfort zone for most hitters at 10U. Anything below that would be a finesse pitcher that needs to hit their spots to be effective.

IMO, all three components of pitching are important. If you have 2 of the 3, you can be effective. Great pitchers have all three.

 

[First2Third]

At 10U, the ONLY thing I would be concerned with is speed. As for everything else I agree with Tallmadge. I would say the break point for 'elite' at 10u is more around 47-48. If you play a competitive schedule, you will encounter a handful of girls above 50. I had one daughter who ended 10u at 40mph, and one who ended 10u at 48mph.

 

[AndrewGeorge]

The speed difference from her fastball to change up needs more work. 3- 4 MPH slower isn't gonna get the needed effect. My daughter sounds very similar to your as far as working with instructor and progression. Her spin has always been really good and her locations have been really strong. Her biggest strength is mixing her 2 change ups very well. She throws 38 - 40 with her fastball but mixes in a circle change with movement at 31 - 32 (but much more accurate) and a flip change at 24-25 that is just plain nasty. When she is really on she can go to all 3 pitches for strikes and it is very tough for batters to get a feel.

Also, the mental approach for young pitchers is very important. Most pitchers that I have seen at 10U are uncomfortable throwing inside to batters and tend of leave those pitches fat in the middle of the plate. Make sure she works with throwing her pitches at her inside corners especially when batters are in the box. The mental aspect also comes into play when making sure she is throwing her practice speeds in game situations. I have seen many pitchers hitting 40 at pitching lessons but when it goes live that number falls to 34 - 35. It is all about reps and confidence.

 

[ChrisDennis13]

Thank you for all the responses. As you can tell this is our first time for all this. It seems that we have roughly a year to try to gain as much speed as possible while dialing in that off speed. As for target, her instructor ends the lesson with her pitching both fast and change, plus high outside and low inside, randomly switching to simulate game play. She is far from perfect at it, but I am not sure how much I should expect after only 5 months of doing this.

I guess the real question is, is she on track for her age? I am not looking for her to be "elite", but her being better than most would be nice. Ha Ha.

 

[AndrewGeorge]

On track for her age can get you a hundred different answers. What level ball are you expecting to play? From your description I would say she is ready to play B level ball but she will get hit a lot and hit hard. There is nothing wrong with that as long as you have the defense behind her to help her. Her speed is probably right at the mid point for this age level. Where she might be lacking at the B level is the speed difference between fastball and change up.

I should also make sure to state that the levels of ball is purely based on each person.

IMO at 10U, I say C level would be just having the mechanics to pitch, throwing strikes but not necessarily hitting spots, speed in the low 30s. Typically is not going to have multiple pitches.

B level would be about what you are describing. Uppers 30s to low 40s speed, a second pitch, the ability to hit locations and change speed. This level pitcher will typically get a lot of strikeouts against C level teams but B level teams are going to put the ball in play a lot against her.

A level would have either a fastball well above the hitting speed (50+) or upper 40s with significant speed change between secondary pitches. This level will be able to move the ball all over the zone for strikes.

All of that said, I would say the best thing your daughter can do is to continue to work the speed difference. She is not going to be able to overpower even come C level teams. A pitcher does not have to strike out batters to be effective. Making batters hit quality pitches is one of the best qualities a pitcher can have. Too many teams are only interested in the pitchers that strike out 18 batters a game, but most of the best teams will tell you if that is what is happening you are not playing the right competition.

It was stated earlier that most teams at the 10U level are working batting practice at 40 MPH so that should tell you that most teams will be comfortable stepping into the box against what your daughter is throwing. Moving the ball up and down, in and out, and changing speeds is what is going to determine her success. Sounds like she is in a great spot to start fall ball. It also sounds like you have her with the right type of instructor to get her where she needs to be.

Hope that has helped. I am in the same boat myself. I have a 2011 that is going into her first year at 10U. She is not going to overpower most of the teams we are going to see, that is not our plan either. Some of the best advise I have read and heard from those that have been here and done this is to stop trying to get your pitchers to make them miss and start getting them to make them hit quality pitches. An active defense behind a pitcher will have just as much of an impact on your pitchers success as anything else.