At what age should a pitcher throw a curveball? (2023)

What age should pitchers throw a curveball?

James Andrews (renowned orthopaedic surgeon and medical director for the Andrews Institute) recommends that youth pitchers refrain from throwing curveballs until they have mastered the fastball and change-up and are at least 14 years old⁴.

11 and 12 Year Olds

The average fastball is between 50-60 mph. However, at this age the players may start to hit puberty, therefore it is not uncommon to see a pitcher throwing near 70 mph. The changeup velocity at this age is typically between 40-50 mph.

In general, a child can start throwing a fastball at age 8, a change-up at 10, and a curveball at 14. All other pitches should not be introduced until high school age.

The short answer is that many experts agree that pitchers can begin throwing curveballs between the ages of 13-16.

Throwing too many curveballs or throwing curveballs improperly could lead to ligament damage, coaches and doctors said, specifically tears to the ulnar collateral ligament, the tissue in the elbow that connects the upper arm to the inside part of the lower arm.

11 And 12-Year-Olds

The average fastball is between 50-60 mph. Although at this age the players may begin to reach puberty, and for that reason, it is not unusual to see a pitcher throwing around 70 mph. The changeup velocity at this age is generally between 40-50 mph.

This is answered for every age imaginable, if you search the forums for details. Short answer is is 55-60 mph. Anything faster than that is above average.

Division III players have a pitching velocity of 77 miles per hour to 82 miles per hour on average. Along with this, coaches often look for Division III players to have a strikeout to walk ratio of 1:1 and an ERA ranging from 2.50 to 3.50.

Does a curveball hurt your arm?

No studies found increased force or torque about the elbow or shoulder. Three epidemiologic studies showed no significant association between pitching a curveball and upper extremity pain or injury.

Does throwing a sinker hurt your arm? No. The sinker has a similar arm slot and grip as the two-seam fastball. The sinker generally safe.

Average freshman pitcher (14 to 15 year old) cruising speed would be about 70 mph. Average cruising speed for a good high school pitching prospect at 14 to 15 years old would be about 75 mph.

My nephew is 15, throws in the low 70- mid 70's and will make the V-team as a pitcher in a 5A school. He does have good stuff and control, just not overpowering. General rule of thumb for good-to-great velocity is AGE x 5 MPH. So, at 10, 50; at 12, 60; at 15, 75, at 17, 85.

Four-Seam Fastball

This is usually the easiest pitch to throw for a strike. If released properly, four laces of the ball rotate through the air, helping to keep the throw in line with the target. Pitchers should hold the baseball with their pointer and middle finger on the top laces or seams of the baseball.

The curveball should be thrown – just like all pitches – as hard as the fastball. The arm-speed for all pitches should be 100% at all times, but the output speed, the final radar gun speed, is determined by how much speed is converted into spin.

Throwing a curveball prior to age 13 was not found to be a significant risk factor for the development of a serious arm injury, defined as one requiring shoulder/elbow surgery or leading to retirement from baseball.

Little League did not institute a ban on curve balls, and, in light of new research suggesting that the pitch does not, contrary to conventional wisdom, put more strain on a young pitcher's elbow than other pitches (indeed, the research suggests curveballs place less stress on the elbow than a fastball), was perhaps ...

“The most important thing is pure rest,” Silvis said. He recommended children pitch no more than nine months a year, play other sports for conditioning and engage in offseason conditioning and strength training.

Ages 4-6: Children can typically throw towards a target. They begin to turn their body and shift their weight forward as they throw, but often step with the same foot as their throwing arm. Ages 7-9: Children will typically step towards their target with the opposite foot as their throwing arm.

What is the fastest pitch thrown by a 12 year old?

The flaming fastball, equivalent to roughly 153 km/h (95 mph) on a big-league field, created a buzz across media outlets, including Yahoo Japan, the nation's biggest media portal.

Sliders had the highest arm stress (54.6 ± 12.9 N·m) while curveballs had the lowest (46.8 ± 16.3 N·m).

Prototypical Division I pitching recruits throw anywhere between 87 and 95 MPH on a consistent basis. It is important to remember that coaches are looking for pitchers to consistently throw at this velocity, not just touch it every once and awhile.

use 160 ft as their maximum long-toss distance for the age group 13 to 14 years old, as well as the high school, college, and professional athletes [4].

At age 13, Mo'ne Davis could throw a 70 mph fastball. She threw a shutout in the Little League World Series. She's the first Little League player to be featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated.

Jhoan Duran is first in MLB history to throw 100 mph off-speed pitch - Sports Illustrated Minnesota Sports, News, Analysis, and More.

However, it is scientifically proven that softball is harder than baseball. The speed of pitches, the reaction time for hitters and fielders, and the distance of the field indicates that softball is indeed harder than baseball.

What is a good pop time? Average major-league pop time is around 1.90-2.00 seconds and times begin at 1.85 seconds, 1.77 must be considered plus-plus. If you have been to any high school showcase, you will regularly hear times in the 1.8 to 1.9-second range.

What do college scouts look for in a pitcher?

Depending on the level, you're looking for a pitcher to have at least two good pitches. The most important thing is fastball quality, since the fastball is what sets up all other offerings. Velocity is great, but velocity without command or control makes for a pretty one-dimensional pitcher.

A hitter is more likely to contact a fastball, but curveballs have more power potential. Basically, a hitter is more likely to get on base by hitting a fastball, but a curveball has more capacity for extra bases. Hunting one pitch over the other may be situational.

And the consensus of the pros is that the curveball is the toughest pitch to hit.

Movement. The 12 to 6 curveball is the toughest type of curveball to hit, because it moves vertically, and has no horizontal break. The difference of the speed from a fastball and the break make the pitch difficult to hit if a pitcher uses it correctly in a pitching sequence.

Each baseball player has their own specialties. However, the two pitches that stand out to be the hardest to hit are the splitter and the slider. This conclusion is backed by research that has been done to detect the whiff rate for various pitches.

The right age to start throwing a slider or curveball is between 14 and 15, which gives a player enough time to develop the pitch (takes 1-3 years) so that it's good by the time the college recruiting process heats up. But, every pitcher is different so be careful and choose for yourself when the time is right.

Definition. A cutter is a version of the fastball, designed to move slightly away from the pitcher's arm-side as it reaches home plate. Cutters are not thrown by a large portion of Major League pitchers, but for some of the pitchers who possess a cutter, it is one of their primary pitches.

Generally, pitchers see their velocity peak in their early 20s and steadily decline by a full mile per hour by age 26. After that, velocity drops more sharply and continues a steep decline into a pitcher's 30s.

Do tall pitchers throw harder?

Taller pitchers are more intimidating, throw on a greater downhill plane, and release the ball closer to the plate. You would think that someone taller would be able to throw harder since they have longer arms and their greater size should enable them to be better able to withstand the punishment of pitching.

"Eighty-three," said Anthony Pluta, Canadian Women's Team pitching coach, reading out loud the velocity of Padgham's fastball for everyone to hear. That's 83 miles per hour (which would be 134 km/h).

55 is excellent for 10U. That being said, I wouldn't get too caught up with velocity in youth ball. Consider two 18 year old seniors, both are 6' and each throwing 85 MPH. When they were 12U age, pitcher A stood 5'10" and threw 75.

1. Jhoan Duran, RP, Twins. Duran is the only pitcher in MLB averaging better than 100 mph on his fastball, and he's been a dominant reliever for Minnesota. He has a 2.81 ERA and 36/4 K/BB in 25.2 innings with four saves.

A starting pitcher records a quality start when he pitches at least six innings and allows three earned runs or fewer. A starting pitcher has two jobs: to prevent runs and get outs. The quality start statistic helps to quantify which pitchers did a "quality" job in those two departments.

11 And 12-Year-Olds

The average fastball is between 50-60 mph. Although at this age the players may begin to reach puberty, and for that reason, it is not unusual to see a pitcher throwing around 70 mph. The changeup velocity at this age is generally between 40-50 mph.

Average freshman pitcher (14 to 15 year old) cruising speed would be about 70 mph. Average cruising speed for a good high school pitching prospect at 14 to 15 years old would be about 75 mph.

A 10-year prospective study that utilized annual surveys of arm pain or injury found no relationship between throwing a curveball before 13 years of age and arm injury in the 481 youth pitchers.

What is a good fastball speed for a 15 year old?

65-75 mph is the range the majority of 15 year olds throw… with 75-80 mph being the higher end.

The older a pitcher gets, the better he has to perform--there are allowances for growth and maturity in the early 20s, but by the time a pitcher is around 27 or so he better be performing. This is why the averages inch up in the very first chart, to reflect the successful pitchers who reach their 30s.

What age do scouts look at baseball players? Coaches are going to begin looking at prospects as soon as they are physically developed enough to give a reliable estimation of how they will project as an 18- to 21-year-old player.

As you can see in table 1, the data show no evidence of a statistically significant correlation, for starting pitchers, between height (in inches) and any of the customary measures of pitching effectiveness.

In baseball, there is something called the “Age-27” rule, stating that “a hitter tends to break out in his age-27 season.” This myth was largely based on an essay by baseball analyst and statistician Bill James, where he concluded that baseball players tend to offer their teams their peak performance around the age of ...