Williams was right, just not as precise as he could have been. The toughest thing in sports is to hit a round ball with a round bat when the round ball is thrown underhand from 40 feet away. As a throwing coach, it’s my goal that every player reaches at least 55+mph by her junior year in high school.
The pitching technique used in the fast-pitch softball games is distinctively different from the slow-pitch ones. Slow-pitch softball mandates that pitchers have to throw the ball in a high arch within the range of 6-12 feet. The pitcher has to simply step forward and toss the ball underarm. The windmill technique is absent from such a pitching strategy. A lot of pitchers attempt to attain a high velocity, and the reality is that college and MLB scouts look very closely at a pitcher’s fastball velocity.
For example, the US team donated equipment and hosted coaching clinics in the Middle East, Africa and Europe. The US team’s Jessica Mendoza has also delivered equipment and conducted clinics in other countries such as Brazil, the Czech Republic and South Africa. ~Keep in mind that a 74 MPH pitch at 43 feet is well over the equivalent of a 100 MPH baseball pitch that’s thrown from 60 feet away. Different teams bear the pressure for securing a win in the different variants of the game. In the slow-pitch version, the onus lies with the defense team, while in the fast-pitch version the offensive team is responsible for securing a win.
That’s roughly what Finch, Fernandez, and Osterman did these two weeks … except they didn’t allow as many hits. At the college level, most women throwing pitches in softball can achieve a speed of about 62 miles per hour. However, there are pitchers who focus more on speed and can throw pitches that can go much faster than that, at an average of even 70 miles per hour. In different types of competitions, different rules concerning the stance apply. In college, professional, and Olympic games, pitchers must place both feet on the rubber when starting the pitch. Other competitions require having only one foot on the rubber.
The windup is performed with the throwing arm and happens prior to the pitcher releasing the ball. Throughout the entire pitch, the upper body should remain upright, rather than bent over. Some pitchers move the throwing arm back as they shift their weight back, but it is not necessary throw an effective pitch. From the hip, the throwing arm moves up in a circle, brushing the ear, and returning to the hip prior to the release. The pitcher’s arm should remain tight to the body to keep control of the pitch. This can be performed because the pitcher’s lower body is pivoting in a straight line.
To off-set that high speed, coaches and scouts look for pitchers who can throw change ups well, particularly for strikes. To help pitchers understand what benchmarks they should reach and when, Rapsodo created aSoftball Pitching Averages by Age Guide. This guide hitting stick softball was created by analyzing and averaging out metrics from over 9 million softball pitches thrown by girls and young women ages 11-pro. This guide breaks down average pitch speed by age alongside other metrics like break, spin rate, spin direction and more.
In the latter event, players have to wait until the ball has made contact with the batter’s bat. A high school pitcher can be anywhere from 14 to 18 years of age. This plays a part in figuring out an average fastball velocity, but, keep in mind that the majority of high schools have a Freshmen, Sophomore, and Varsity program to split up the big age gap. Fo the most part, an average varsity high school fastball is between mph, even though a lot of good Varsity pitchers will be finding out that they can pitch in the higher 80s and low 90 range. The Freshmen pitchers will generally be throwing at a similar speed to the 13 and 14-year-olds, and the Sophomores will be situated somewhere in the middle. A good changeup for a high school pitcher is a -10 to -15 mph drop, so anywhere from mph is usual.