Depends. Most good teams set the machine at 60 and hit baseballs, not softballs as Wolfman posted.. So a softball at 55 won't mean much to a good hitter.I atttended a Divn1 pitching camp last month. If you throw a flat fastball at 55 you will get pounded by most good softball hitters. It is all about ball spin and movement when you hit 14 U and above. Most colleges won't even look at you unless your spin ratio is above 20 rounds per second. The coach made a good point. You throw at 60 plus in college and don't put spin on the ball, expect to give up alot of HR.'s !