43' instead of 40'

As a D1 pitcher this never applied to me, but I really feel moving back to 43' in HS is a rough move. I remember playing so many teams in HS where the pitcher was "okay" at 40' but not exceptional. These pitchers pitched because it was fun and they were sort of good at it, but they had no intention to play in college. Moving that same pitcher back to 43' will move her from an "okay" pitcher to someone just throwing the ball over the plate.

I definitely agree with moving travel ball back to 43' because most of those pitchers have aspirations to play past HS, but those girls who love pitching, but don't necessarily have what it takes, will most likely not excel and will start to lose the love for that position when they are getting rocked every single day. I think this will keep a lot of girls from wanting to pitch in HS if they don't have the dream to move on.

 

What I have observed during the last couple of summers playind TB is the pitchers who have control and movement on breaking pitches and use the pitching lane to the max will do fine , most will have more movement at 43'. The pitchers that dominated by the fastball will be in for a surprise against the TB players.

 

I would think drop ball pitchers could have the toughest time. You move a hitter all the way back in the box, doesn't that make it 45' to the catchers glove? Catchers will need big time blocking skills if 45' is too long, or run the risk of chasing balls around home plate while kids run the bases.

But if the drop ball is hitting the catchers glove two feet past home plate is it still a drop ball pitch?

 

You are Correct

Yes Dukedog, you and several others are correct about the calculation. Velocity will start to decrease as soon as the ball leaves the pitchers hand and point of release would have to be taken into account. I was just trying to give some "simple" numbers around the discussion.

 

Gotta Have Movement

I agree 2ddad. While speed is important at any distance, the key to success for the pitchers at 43ft will be movement. I've seen pitchers with late movement at 40ft adapt very nicely to 43ft. Strikeouts were still lower but a lot of infield dribbblers and pop ups resulted in routine outs and low scores.
Some will adapt, some won't.........and a fastball won't get it done against better hitters.
Will be interesting to see.

 

60 mph is 60 mph....dont matter if its 40' or 90'. the speed is what it is.

movement pitchers will benefit from this move. rise ball pitchers that have not mastered the art of a great rise ball will see their walks increase if they dont adjust.

 

His point was about how reaction time is effected and how the ball SEEMS to be traveling slower.. not actually slower. It is the same effect that they try to describe during the College World Series after some of the pitching when they describe a 70mph software as the equivalent of a 90mph baseball. The distance makes the difference in perception of speed because of the reduced available reaction time.

 

just wondering... Had this discussion with some baseball friends about velocity, radar readings, etc.. The point of the discussion was that max velocity was at the release point and if the "gun" was "aimed" at that point, verses at the point where the ball crosses the plate, there was usually a 2-3 mph difference. With a softball being larger, and a little heavier, I would be curious what the difference would be???

 

......according to Wndmllr, the answer would be about 2-3 mph as well.
Fishman