Pitching and Pitchers Discussion Pitch Speed?

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How fast should a 11 yr old throw her drop ball? What would be a good average speed at that age?

 

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IMO, speed shouldn't be your main concern, but the amount of spin she can generate on the ball, the more spin, the more break.

At 11yo, I would think 45-50 for fastball and 40-45 for her drop.

 

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http://www.pitchsoftball.com/Page.html

Your answer see the study.

 

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IMO, speed shouldn't be your main concern, but the amount of spin she can generate on the ball, the more spin, the more break.

At 11yo, I would think 45-50 for fastball and 40-45 for her drop.

shouldn't the drop ball and fastballs have the same speed.or at least be able to be thrown at the same speed. The motion to throw them is the same in fact all fastballs drop but not as much as a dropball(more spin, drops more)

 

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Agree with you Parma, but not when they are first learning it, maybe 6 months down the road. They should be the same if not a couple of mph different.

 

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I believe the drop will end up being just a few mph slower than the fastball. I don't know all of the physics behind the reasoning though. It will be close, but not the same.

My DD did start learning the drop as an 11U, and continues to work on it. I'm not sure I would classify it as an easy pitch to learn. At least not for her. She is up to around 65-70% of them working properly. When they don't, they tend to hit in the dirt a bit out in front of the plate, or worse yet, as a meatball in someone's wheelhouse.

It's not a fun pitch to have to catch when they are learning, and I've gotten downright good as a catcher since my daughter started pitching. The ones that work really good, I'll miss completely sometimes because the break is so good.

 

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If the pitcher is truly throwing a spin induced drop then there is little chance the speed will be the same as her fastball. The stride alone will cause a loss in speed, not to mention the mechanics. If you are throwing the turn-over drop there is zero chance the speed would be the same.

The purpose of the drop is to get the hitter to commit to the pitch and have them hit the top of the ball resulting in a ground ball. Spin is far more important than speed and proper mechanics is an absolute with the drop.

 

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I know a turnover drop is typically a little slower than a fastball. I would say an avg speed for an 11 yr olds fastball at a "competitive" level would be low to mid 40's. There are a fair amount of kids that throw in the upper 40's, with a few that throw in the 50's. I think if you throw a drop ball at a young age, you have to have an exceptional catcher, as you will end up with a fair amount of balls in the dirt. Very few 12u players can throw their junk for strikes (consistently), most are still trying to master the fastball. Generally at this age you can get away with fastball/change up, anything else is a bonus, but if she can't locate the drop ball you'll only be able to use it as a waste pitch, and even then I would be careful if you have runners on.

 

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bambam8. Good post. At 12U tourney my dd couldn't throw this pitch , as the catcher allowed 4 K's to get to first base as a dropped third strike. It was the reason I bought shin guards to catch her, during pitching lessons.

 

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She should be trying to throw it a little faster than she is now. She is 11 and just learning all these pitches. Her speed will be all over the place. She'll slow her arm down to try to get the spin right and short stride and the she'll throw a 'gravity drop.' She'll really step into one and stride out and unleash a near fastball on the next pitch.

Put the gun away and let her work on her technique, just encourage her to keep trying.

 

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my drop is the same speed as my fast, now if you want to put a little bit more movement on it, i would slow the ball down, so it will dive more.

 

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Different instructors teach different techniques on the drop. The way my DD was taught, her drop is a bit slower than her fastball....as much rotation as possible. Remember though, at U-12, there is no faster way to put a batter on first base, than to throw a drop ball for third strike and then watch the runner go down to first after the ball gets by the catcher. I learned that after it happened enough times...rarely call a drop on a 2 strike pitch.

 

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IMHO an 11 year old should MASTER a good fastball and a good change-up. If she throws her fastball 50+ she is doing very good. I would guess the average at that age would be in the mid to upper 40's. I've seen 12U pitchers that throw in the low to mid 40's with a great change-up make batters look silly.

 

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Just by using the correct mechanics the FB will NEVER be the same speed as a properly thrown drop.

 

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what type of drop is she throwing? the peel or the turn?

 

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after 3 years at 10u... I've had the pleasure to work with nearly 10 or more pitchers, 5 or 6 would be starters on nearly anytime I've seen or heard of (not because of me). Only 3 of them attempted to throw the drop ball. Now... all of these pitchers have what I would call good control at 10u and if not mastered the change-up throw it with 80% or better effectiveness. I'M NOT A PITCHING COACH NOR WILL NEVER CLAIM TO BE... not my core strength... Now, each girl has progressively thrown their drop ball somewhere around 5mph or lower than their fast ball with control issues as expected early on. With the incredible work ethic that some of these girls have they have gained control and speed with time and have become very effective. One throws very consistantly at 48-50 mph (fastball) and at this point she throws her drop right there too. In fact, I'd swear there's no difference but I don't want to say that's a fact because it may be just "where she's at" with her development as a pitcher. Control hasn't been an issue with her either. The 2nd girl has a difference in speed between the 2 pitches but has incredible control and quite honestly I like the difference because it may suit us better as a team and as whole.

I haven't been exposed to as many as some on the forum but I will say work ethic has been a major reason for the 2 I'm talking about here. We rarely get the gun out and in fact the speeds mentioned earlier were told to my by the opposing team. Heck, my gun may not even have batteries in it.

IMO, if a 10u is throwing strikes....or better yet, able to get ahead in the count or manage her "batter" with the help of the coach/catcher calling the game, the ability to mix up the pitches the batter sees is crucial. Now, this is the minority and not all 10u's throw in the upper 40's or even break 50. If I had to guess...in 2009, less than 5 10u's (and I'm talking May-July) in Ohio threw in the 50's (with control and execution) and for some reason loooots of teams still won games. Nevertheless, the 10u's that are throwing a nasty change and with control and have a fastball of 42-47mph will get to Sunday many times and will land themselves hardware quite often without a drop ball. I would do as so many others have said and get the control managed and then the rest will work itself out. Their pitching coach (for my team it's Buster and Misty) will get them where they should be speed wise and with game management the girls can be very successful without speed being the focus.

 

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At the college level, every pitch BETTER look very similar to the batter - at least enough to fool them. What keeps many kids from progressing is a lack of confidence. Ideally, they need to be confident enough to throw any pitch at any time. Lack of confidence shows up as a "slow arm change-up". THAT will NEVER fool an experienced batter!

A peel drop will be nearly as fast as the fastball if thrown properly. A turn-over drop, by nature of the mechanics, should be an off-speed pitch.

An 11 yr. old who can perfect her change (with confidence) and spot her fastball effectively will run rings around a typical drop ball pitcher at 11u. She can build a drop into her portfolio anytime as she gets older.

 

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Chip, Bam, Sammy, Lester, good stuff. Young pitchers, if you have to make changes in your mechanics to throw a different pitch, go back and work on your mechanics. Every pitch should look the same when its delivered, ie. arm speed etc.

 

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At least that's what dd is working on, and succeeding with

 

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A peel drop very well may be as fast as a fast ball . An over the top drop will be somewhat slower than a fast ball. The reason the over the top is slower is the lack of a true wrist snap.
I think some people are mistaken thinking any ten or 11 year old is throwing in the 50`s.