The phrase, "Throwing like a girl," has become an incredible compliment. When you step into the batter's box in a college women's fastpitch softball game, pitchers will be slinging the ball from 67-71 mph. Not impressed? With the pitcher being about 17.5 feet closer to the catcher than they are in Major League Baseball, that speed is the equivalent of a 99 mph fastball. We are talking speeds that only a couple of MLB pitchers, like Nolan Ryan, have ever attained.
When it comes to the softball fastpitch, there are three primary phases to the entire motion. According to pitchsoftball.com, a website for coaches working with beginning to advanced pitchers, these phases include: 1.The Drive off the pitching rubber: Similar to a sprinter coming off the starting blocks, it is the speed of a pitchers drive off he rubber that lays the groundwork for a fast pitch. 2. The "Reachback" through the downswing: it is common for a pitcher to actually tilt her upper body backwards and reach back toward second base to get a larger, better, "whip" of her arm down through the release of the pitch. Finishing tall with good pushback resistance 3. Finish tall with good pushback resistance: The same resistance that a hitter gets from her front leg at the point of contact, a pitcher needs to "set up a wall" and use her stride leg as the resistance for the final downswing into the release of a pitch.
