14U pitching from 40 and 43 feet?

As I've looked over the rule changes for the different sanctioning bodies for softball, I was puzzled to see the inconsistency with the decision about whether 14u would pitch from 40 or 43 feet. I find it interesting that some have chosen 43ft, some have made it optional (not sure how that works), others have remained at 40 ft, and the major World tournaments all appear to have remained at 40ft. Throw into the mix that, to my knowledge, all NC Middle Schools will continue to throw from 40ft. My questions are... as the parent of a young pitcher, not yet affected by this, how difficult will it be for 13/14 year olds to bounce back and forth from school ball to travel ball and from one tournament to the next moving from 40 to 43ft, back and forth continuously? and is this really in their best interest? Obviously, older girls playing high school and showcase ball have been doing this for some time, but 13/14 yr olds? Please don't misunderstand me, I'm not saying they can't do it. But as a parent who's only other experience with this sort of change was moving from 35ft to 40ft, I'm just not sure what to expect or how to help prepare my daughter for this... Insight respecfully requested.

 

43'

I'm sure opinions will vary. A first year year 14U may still have middle school ball to play. I don't think this is a big deal to move back to 43' then come back up to 40'. My daughter moved to 43' the week after completing her 8th grade season in the late fall. By this time if a pitcher has any goals of pitching at the high school level I think she should move back and stay.

 

Someones gonna get hurt with younger kids pitching at 43 feet... This is way too much advantage for the batter.

 

All the way until this year, all the pitchers were pitching from 40' in high school and 43' in travel ball, and we went through the transition from 40' to 43' a couple of years ago in TB. The transition was not bad for my DD, however i think it will vary depending on the pitcher. We spent most of our time practicing from 43'. The perception for the pitcher will be that they are throwing the ball harder when they move back to 40' from 43' which is not necessarily the case but with adrenaline and belief it could actually happen.
The bottom line is if she is a "power" pitcher with little movement (especially on a fastball) then expect to get hit more at 43'. But if you are a "movement" pitcher don't expect to get hit any less, just maybe not as hard. Have known several girls who were "slower" pitchers,where the move to 43' actually helped.
My advice would be to work out at 43' almost all the time, and then if you know you're playing from 40' one weekend then practice it a couple of times that week. My observation though is that the pitchers pick up the different release point fairly quickly.

 

Agreed !!

Don't expect to see any upper 50's at 43' if you saw it at 40'...Oh I'm sure you will still have the quotes, my DD can throw it 65 MPH out there in softball land...............---GURU HAS SPOKEN !!!

 

35-40-43

The biggest change my DD saw from 35 -40 was throwing a 11" ball from 35' to throwing the 12" ball from 40' , a big change from 10u to 12u. You take a 14 yr old girl that can throw 12" ball from 40' and move back only 3'. Fastball ball pitchers might not be that much different. 1 or 2 mph difference? But the junk ball change-ups and drops and screw ball pitchers may see a little difference. Just know your tournaments and who is 40' and who is 43'.....

 

How much is the average drop in speed between the two. I have seen pitchers throw 58 from 40' and 58 from 43'. Is 58 not 58? I know the reaction time is different which makes the pitch seem slower but speed is speed.

 

Speed is Speed

I agree with slick50. I thought the speed was measured right out of the pitchers hand. The batter has a little longer to react at 43' but the speed of the pitch is the same.

43' is great for the junkballers. It allows more room for the ball to move.

 

yeah, I talked to a handful of experienced pitching coaches when the HS were moving to 43" (in oregon, which was 2 seasons ago as a trial). and the issue was, most hs can have a pitcher on their varsity that throws 43, fine, but JV, not really or not really well. now your talking middle school, and cmmguy is right, this is asking for a problem. I am sure there are some kids this might not effect as much, but on the whole, kids need time to develop their arms and bodies as a whole. 43' at 14, is a bit much in my opinion.

 

ASA rule changes have been posted on their sites.

2 new rules that i am sure of without looking them all up is

14U stays at 40'
16U moves to 43'
Metal cleats are now allowed in 16U

there is a complete list of the changes on most sites

www.eteamz.com/scasa