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I believe you were putting together averages for pre-teens awhile back. I am sure everyone would be interested to see your results.
9 yrs., 10 yrs., 11 yrs., 12 yrs.
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9 year old, over that white thing in the ground. Clocking a 9 year old? Are you serious?
At 12, there are a few kids at 70+ but most of the top pitchers are in the mid 60's. A good rec-league pitcher is around 60 and a typical pitcher in in the mid 50's.
A 5MPH per year velocity increase is pretty typical so you can work back from those numbers for younger ages.
A 5MPH per year velocity increase is pretty typical so you can work back from those numbers for younger ages.
Savannah,
I'm still collecting data. It'll end up being presented best by graphs so I'll try and find a way to get some graphs posted when I can. In general you'll find that SoCalDad is correct other than I'd say that 4 mph/year is more the norm below 13yo for most of the players and that as they go from 13 to 15 they typically pick up 10 to 12 mph total over those two years. Some mature earlier and pick that up sooner.
For what little it is worth here are the age only numbers for 11 thru 18. This is for when they just turn that age and are based on a very limited data base. Since I have very few data points on either end of the age groups the numbers are most suspect out near those ages. These are also probably a bit higher than typical for the age group and would be your good rec league pitchers or slightly better. These are cruising speeds.
11 - 57.2
12 - 60.1
13 - 64.6
14 - 69.9
15 - 75.4
16 - 80.2
17 - 83.4
18 - 85.1
This is based on a small sample and just one player could throw the whole thing off. For example if we put SoCalDad's son in the database he'd be one of twenty something in the database while in reality there is only one in many thousands who throws as hard at the same age.
Just looking at the data what seems to fit best is a combination of height and age. However, it is just a way to look at what is typical and not a way to predict how hard a kid can, will or should throw.
I'm still collecting data. It'll end up being presented best by graphs so I'll try and find a way to get some graphs posted when I can. In general you'll find that SoCalDad is correct other than I'd say that 4 mph/year is more the norm below 13yo for most of the players and that as they go from 13 to 15 they typically pick up 10 to 12 mph total over those two years. Some mature earlier and pick that up sooner.
For what little it is worth here are the age only numbers for 11 thru 18. This is for when they just turn that age and are based on a very limited data base. Since I have very few data points on either end of the age groups the numbers are most suspect out near those ages. These are also probably a bit higher than typical for the age group and would be your good rec league pitchers or slightly better. These are cruising speeds.
11 - 57.2
12 - 60.1
13 - 64.6
14 - 69.9
15 - 75.4
16 - 80.2
17 - 83.4
18 - 85.1
This is based on a small sample and just one player could throw the whole thing off. For example if we put SoCalDad's son in the database he'd be one of twenty something in the database while in reality there is only one in many thousands who throws as hard at the same age.
Just looking at the data what seems to fit best is a combination of height and age. However, it is just a way to look at what is typical and not a way to predict how hard a kid can, will or should throw.