We hear it all the time; what can my daughter do to get more Velocity on her pitches? We recently asked this question of a highly respected fastpitch softball pitching coach who has developed numerous D1 pitchers:
His reply was this:
The key to velocity is developing the proper fastpitch softball pitching mechanics, that include the understanding of the arm circle and release or snap of the pitch in relationship to a powerful push off of the rubber, and delivering the pitch against a strong front side. Makes sense right? Then he proceeded to discuss the importance of building strong legs and core muscle training for the explosion needed for the powerful drive off of the rubber. And lastly he pointed out that we are individuals and as individuals we all have ceilings, meaning control your expectations.
I'm sure you've heard this phrase before: "You can't teach speed." You're only going to be able to run so fast, some of us are faster than others and some of us have the ability to throw the ball harder than others. That's just our DNA, so does this mean if we're softball pitchers and we can't throw the ball 60mph + we should all give up? Of course not!
There is a big difference between throwing hard and pitching. Let's take a look at 355 game winner Greg Maddux, and compare the speeds of his pitches to that of a female fastpitch softball pitcher. Speeds of Greg Maddux pitches were taken from this Sports Illustrated Article http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/baseball/mlb/05/12/scoutingreport.maddux/
Maddux threw his fastball in the 82 to 86 MPH range; that translates to softball as 57 to 60 mph range. Many high school kids are at this level. His slider was measured at 76-79 MPH range, which translates to 53 to 55mph in softball, and his curve ball was clocked at 69 to 72 MPH, which translates to 46 to 50 MPH in fastpitch softball.
Clearly if you were to post those speeds on your daughters college softball recruitment page you wouldn't get a sniff from a college, why, because they too are wooed by the cheap thrills of seeing a 65mph pitch, yet often miss on the subtleties of an 57 MPH pitch with movement and accuracy.
So as we strive to develop to help our young athletes to reach their best lets understand that they all won't have Monica Abbott speed. Focus on helping them reach their maximum potential, developing the correct rotation on their pitches, teach them speed control, or how to vary their speed with location, and instill in them the confidence that it takes to stand in the circle and trust that they can do all the above and you have developed a pitcher.
The key to velocity is developing the proper fastpitch softball pitching mechanics, that include the understanding of the arm circle and release or snap of the pitch in relationship to a powerful push off of the rubber, and delivering the pitch against a strong front side. Makes sense right? Then he proceeded to discuss the importance of building strong legs and core muscle training for the explosion needed for the powerful drive off of the rubber. And lastly he pointed out that we are individuals and as individuals we all have ceilings, meaning control your expectations.
I'm sure you've heard this phrase before: "You can't teach speed." You're only going to be able to run so fast, some of us are faster than others and some of us have the ability to throw the ball harder than others. That's just our DNA, so does this mean if we're softball pitchers and we can't throw the ball 60mph + we should all give up? Of course not!
There is a big difference between throwing hard and pitching. Let's take a look at 355 game winner Greg Maddux, and compare the speeds of his pitches to that of a female fastpitch softball pitcher. Speeds of Greg Maddux pitches were taken from this Sports Illustrated Article http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/baseball/mlb/05/12/scoutingreport.maddux/
Maddux threw his fastball in the 82 to 86 MPH range; that translates to softball as 57 to 60 mph range. Many high school kids are at this level. His slider was measured at 76-79 MPH range, which translates to 53 to 55mph in softball, and his curve ball was clocked at 69 to 72 MPH, which translates to 46 to 50 MPH in fastpitch softball.
Clearly if you were to post those speeds on your daughters college softball recruitment page you wouldn't get a sniff from a college, why, because they too are wooed by the cheap thrills of seeing a 65mph pitch, yet often miss on the subtleties of an 57 MPH pitch with movement and accuracy.
So as we strive to develop to help our young athletes to reach their best lets understand that they all won't have Monica Abbott speed. Focus on helping them reach their maximum potential, developing the correct rotation on their pitches, teach them speed control, or how to vary their speed with location, and instill in them the confidence that it takes to stand in the circle and trust that they can do all the above and you have developed a pitcher.
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