Why have I not gained much speed on my fastball?

Question

I've been playing Tournament+Rec baseball since 3rd grade. So around 40 games every summer. I also have catches with my brother at least 2-3 times a week, and sometimes around 10 times, if there's nothing else too do. In 3rd grade I was clocked at 43MPH. Now I had just finished eighth grade and am getting clocked at 56-58MPH. I long toss a lot, and a pitching instructor at a camp said my mechanics are very good. I've gone from 4'8" to 5'9", and am now around 160 pounds. And in 5 full years, and a growth spirt, only 13MPH on my fastball. My arm never hurts unless I've pitched for awhile. And please don't say, well if you can hit spots and change speeds you will be sucessful, because I know that. But when there are going to be mulitple kids throwing around 70MPH at my freshman tryouts, and I am throwing mid to upper 50s I won't look to eye-catching.

Answer 1

i am 12 and i can hit 65 on the gun what i do is run

Answer 2

YOU HAVE GAINED SPEED ,EVRYTHING ELSE HAS GOTTEN SLOWER

Answer 3

have you checked your grip? Are you holding it like a 2 seam fastball???

Answer 4

I think it depends on how you throw the fastball "you can throw the fastball from the sides or you can try throwing from above" It might sound very confusing. Just remember it depends on how you throw it.

Answer 5

u proabbly have bad mechanics, try getting professional help

Answer 6

Well, you can keep on practicing and using your hips. But I prefer using other pitches to make your fastball look faster. My fastball isn't too fast either. I'm 14 and it goes around 60 MPH. But my changeup goes around 35, so when I throw my fastball right after the changeup, it seems to go 10-15 miles faster. I also prefer for you to just throw strikes. A good fastball can be made from control. If you can paint corners, vary locations, and have command, not just control, it doesn't matter how fast your fastball goes. Just look at Maddux.

Answer 7

you should be throwing faster, so my first suggestion would be to go see another pitching coach who has a dfferent opinon. i have a pitching coach at my school who tells me one thing but it didnt work, so i went to a private coach and he was able to ehlp me out so much.

trying getting a longer stride. watch tim lincecum if you havent already, his stride is 120% his height and he throws upper 90's (hes on the giants).

and my last thought would be maybe your arm is just worn down. your body needs time to heal. im playing college ball now and am much older so my body can take it, but when i was in high school i played football half the year and baseball the other half, even though we all knew i was going to college on baseball. i just did that so my body didnt get too used to one sport and start to wear down.

or maybe get a knuckleball, thatd be sweet.

Answer 8

maybe get your arm stronger or lift some weights

Answer 9

Coaches aren't necessarily looking for the guy who throws the hardest, does it help? Yeah it does.   But, if you can continuously hit your spots and make solid pitches you'll get noticed.  Don't worry so much about your velocity as much as hitting your spots. Besides the velocity will come with time.

Answer 10

it don't matter like they say location location location if you can put it where you want it you will dominate

Answer 11

How do your other pitches work? If your secondary pitches are about the same speed you might be more of a finesse pitcher. You might be stuck in a rut where you throw the same way you did in 3rd grade. I would suggest during workouts, and this might sound stupid, throwing harder and see if that works out. If it doesn't work on your other pitches like your curveball or changeup.