You always want to work on your velocity, but that shouldn't be your main concern at that age 14 and 15 because all grow into their bodies at different times. I was one of the fastest pitchers until that age and was probably the slowest then. About 16 on I was one of the fastest pitchers again. Work on lengthening your stride and gathering more momentum to home plate. You can Check out www.simplifiedpitching.com for more information.
Posts: 4 | Location: Utah | Registered: May 17, 2009
My son just turned 15. He throws harder than most his age. I see most competitive 8th and 9th graders in the 70-78 range. My son is consistently 79-81 and has hit 83-84 a few times. It's a lot more important at these ages to throw to spots and change speeds.
Posts: 1 | Location: NC | Registered: June 26, 2009
Well these speeds make me feel better. You get used to playing a certain level of competition for so long that you expect that to be the norm.
At the 14U PG tournament last week PG's guns were reading 75-79 consistantly for 5 or 6 of our 13U pitchers (2 leftys). About half are rising 8th graders. Hopefully they can pick up a few MPH before their 9th grade year.
I agree with hitting your spots, though. You know what you call a 100 mph pitch thrown outside the strike zone? Ball 1.
Posts: 170 | Location: East Cobb GA | Registered: October 23, 2008
Hey, just took the time to read the observations and comments gathered over the years. Hope I'm not repeating what has already been addressed, but trying to get a handle on where my son is at. First off, he won't be 15 until December and just starting freshman year of HS. We're still waiting for a serious growth spurt - probably only 5-6 and 120 pounds. He's never had a gun on him before, but last week he went to a travel ball tryout and maxed out at 72 mph. Probably cruises 6-7 mph less in games, though has excellent control, keeps the ball down and keeps hitters off balance - lot of pop ups and ground balls. How does this 72 mph translate for his current physical size? And how does additional size project to future velocity? Despite what folks are saying here, the physical late-bloomer who ends up being the ace down the road, my worry is the HS coach come this spring will look first to the 6-ft, 170 pounder freshmen.
Posts: 26 | Location: southeast | Registered: October 28, 2008
He is right in there for velocity for a HS Freshmen. When my son was a Fr the top velocity I saw was 78,(Stalker-toward the end of the season) and average around 70, some a little more some a little less. The top pitchers were working 72-75 typically. There will be large variations in the Fr and Soph years depending on when they hit their growth spurt.
Posts: 1525 | Location: SoCal | Registered: July 24, 2007
Feel comfortable with where he is at. Just hope coach won't be turned off by lack of physical maturity this spring and be smart enough to recognize it's coming. In the meantime, praying for a nice growth spurt for Xmas.
Posts: 26 | Location: southeast | Registered: October 28, 2008
I would suggest your guy works hard and learns to pitch as well as work on arm conditioning. My son coaches a travel team in Charleston SC and had a 12yo stalking at 78mph. Who know what will happen with him. Years ago I watched 2 15yos who were consistently in the 90s. One topped at 92. Their P coach was a 15year veteran Detroit Tiger pitcher. I am not sure if they survived to play college or pro. Forget the size issue. As the old saying goes control what you can control. Other wise you will torture yourself for nothing.
Posts: 5964 | Location: Canada | Registered: October 13, 2005
Originally posted by jayhook: Hey, just took the time to read the observations and comments gathered over the years. Hope I'm not repeating what has already been addressed, but trying to get a handle on where my son is at. First off, he won't be 15 until December and just starting freshman year of HS. We're still waiting for a serious growth spurt - probably only 5-6 and 120 pounds. He's never had a gun on him before, but last week he went to a travel ball tryout and maxed out at 72 mph. Probably cruises 6-7 mph less in games, though has excellent control, keeps the ball down and keeps hitters off balance - lot of pop ups and ground balls. How does this 72 mph translate for his current physical size? And how does additional size project to future velocity? Despite what folks are saying here, the physical late-bloomer who ends up being the ace down the road, my worry is the HS coach come this spring will look first to the 6-ft, 170 pounder freshmen.
jayhook, I'd say your son is pretty much on track. Different kids throw different for their body size. I have seen huge kids throw slow and little kids throw hard. But, for his size, I would say he throws pretty good. Should be fine for freshman team as long as he can hit his spots and change speed. Teams are always looking for pitching and as long as he is effective, he will have a spot.
We've been trying to get submissions to a self monitored survey on the subject of all kinds of measurements. Not sure what the HSWeb policy is on point to other sites/pages but I'll mention the submission form here in hopes we get some new numbers. Note - mostly it's reserved for team managers of the teams hosted on WebBall so I can't promise how long we'll allow this to show to everyone... thru October 09 for sure ...http://www.webball.com/cms/page2342.cfm
Posts: 6 | Location: Metro Vancouver | Registered: October 05, 2009
