55 feet?

Country Store

Hey Dad,
I don't think I would go back to that "country store" anymore. Sounds like their kids are hitters only and it is a conspiracy.

My 8 and under daughter went right out and started throwing from 55 feet. her arm is now 8 inches longer than before your email. She is up to 2-3 mph.:hmmmm:

I have encouraged her to start throwing from 2b. Then we have it covered.



JUST KIDDING.....I would go back to that store, sounds like they have plenty of good liquid refreshments

 

Wow---- Which is harder to throw under handed or over handed---MMMMM ?????........ I just believe that throwing over handed there is just a little more torque on the ball,what you think??...my DD can smoke it from the infield to first base over handed, but if I asked her to throw it under handed to first I doubt it would make it there in a straight line...there is a big difference in the movement of the arm and speed with over handed vs.over handed..................:xyzwave:

 

OK, what if, we moved the pitcher back to 55 feetand then changed the ball from the softball to now using a baseball? Now how about making the barrell of the bat twice as big as it is now?

 

Point taken. I just wanted to know if anyone had heard of the mound being moved back, at all. I know the length I heard was ridiculous. Just wanted to know. Capiche?

 

The Three-feet Movement

In 2005 the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) made a recommendation to the national high school governing body to move the rubber back three feet. The recommendation was denied. Fifty-five feet is obsurd, to be sure, but it does open the door for discussions about safety. The NFCA appears to be steadfast in their resolve and probably will not rest until the "three-feet movement" at the high school level is more seriously considered and eventually passed. Meanwhile, let's keep our fingers crossed that some young lady in the circle (or on a corner for that matter) will not receive a severe head injury from a batted ball traveling in excess of 90 MPH that is on top of her before she can adequately protect herself. There is a good reason that most coaches stand behind a screen during batting practice. Granted, the coaches are typically much closer than the normal distance, but still how many times do we need to see a high school or travel ball pitcher go down on the ground before something significant is done? Already we see too many tournament games stopped while injured pitchers are attended to. With the players getting stronger each year, putting the high tech bats in their hands is a recipe for someone to be badly hurt. I think most people love to see the long ball hit. It energizes the game and I'm all for it. But, that should not happen at the expense of another group of players' welfare. Changes like this, especially involving player safety, can be strongly influenced by a groundswell of support from the softball community in each state. If a group of parents and a handful of well respected prep and travel coaches want this to change badly enough, that is to protect the pitchers and make the game safer for them, then it will happen. In a parallel situation, look at the improvements that have occurred over the years with headgear in other sports like football and cycling, not to mention softball and baseball catchers' masks. These changes were pushed along by parents and coaches who desperately wanted their kids to play under safer conditions AFTER some kid out there was badly hurt. Manufacturers and governing bodies are not known to be proactive in setting up higher safety standards. Manufacturers are by nature more reactive and their motives are often and sadly more influenced by financial concerns. Better safety dictates more research along with design and material changes. That costs money. The governing bodies are mired down by politics and procedural muck so changes happen at a snail's pace. History tells us that only when a player suffers an extreme injury do we see the changes roll through at an accelerated pace. This particular issue, however, is not like others that require a great deal of added expense. Pull the rubber up. Move it three feet. Put it back in the ground. If that simple act will help to save one kid's nose from being broken, keep her eye from being damaged, her teeth from being knocked out, or God Forbid, from being killed (and we know it could happen), then it is our responsibility to act on behalf of the kids and do something about it.

 

My understanding was that the 43' distance was being tried in Florida last year as a test for the NFHS, and that they decided not to extend it this year.

I also understand that the reason for moving it back 3' are: (1) because that's the college distance and (2) because it makes things easier for the BATTER, because it gives them more time to see the ball coming to them and makes for more offense.

I would think that the 3' given to the batter to make it easier for them to get a better connection on the ball will make the ball come back that much faster, negating much of the positive effect of moving the rubber back 3' because balls will be coming back with very nearly the same net reaction time and there will be more hits and more balls to need to dodge.

Play this as a safety issue if you wish, but I'm afraid I can't buy into that argument. If you want safety on the mound, how about mouthguards, face masks, saftey balls and/or wooden bats?

 

Normally, when a pitcher is clocked by radar, the speed registered is at release and the ball is continuously slowing down due to air resistance all the way to its resting point. If you want to do the math, with distance between the back of the plate and the rubber being 40', assuming a 4' stride and the bat 4' in front of the point, then the ball travels 32'. Assuming an average speed of 60 MPH (or 88 feet per second), then it takes 0.36 seconds to go from the pitcher's hand to the bat, adding 3' feet to this gives the batter 0.40 seconds.

Turn it around, with the ball now going the other way (at the 98 MPH maximum per the ASA 2004 standard, 144 fps), and assuming the pitcher is at the release point so the ball is travelling the same distance (either 32' or 35'), for travel times of 0.22 and 0.24 seconds respectively. Yes, a 10% reduction, but both are so low as to give the pitcher no time to react either way, and much less time as that given to the batter by the distance adjustment.

When colleges and international play went to 43' it was to increase offense (i.e. more hits) and it worked. In Florida High School games this year, the runs scored went from 9.73 runs per game in 2005 (at 40') to 14.58 runs per game in 2006 (at 43').

My DD is a pitcher, and I'm concerned for her safety too. I just don't think this is really the way to go about it. If you want to do it at later ages because it's the college distance, that's another discussion.