Alright, so I’ve been diving into this whole “good exit velocity by age” thing lately. It all started when my nephew got pretty serious about baseball, and suddenly all the parents and even some coaches were throwing this term around. “Exit velocity,” they’d say, nodding like it was the secret sauce. I figured I needed to get a handle on what they were actually talking about, you know, so I wouldn’t sound completely clueless at the next barbecue.
My First Steps: What the Heck is “Good”?
So, my first move was just trying to find some basic numbers. I poked around online, asked a buddy who played a bit in college, and basically tried to piece together what’s considered decent. It’s not like there’s one magic number, which was the first thing I learned. It’s all a big “it depends” kind of situation, mostly on age, obviously.
After a bit of digging, I started seeing some patterns. I jotted down some notes, which looked something like this:
- Little Leaguers (like 8-10 years old): If they’re hitting the ball off the bat at around 55-65 mph, that’s apparently pretty solid for their age. We’re talking just getting the feel for it.
- Middle School Kids (say, 11-14 years old): Things ramp up here. You start looking for something in the 65-80 mph range. They’re getting stronger, more coordinated.
- High School Players (14-18 years old): This is where it gets more serious. Coaches are eyeing guys hitting 80-95 mph. Big jump, right?
- College Ballplayers: Now you’re talking 90-105 mph. These guys are often aiming for the next level.
- The Pros: Well, these are different animals. They’re consistently hitting 100-120 mph, sometimes even higher. Just a whole other level of power.
Putting Numbers to the Test: My Observations
Okay, so I had these numbers. My “practice” then became actually watching games, paying attention at practices, and trying to see if this stuff matched up with what I was seeing. I even got one of those cheap radar guns for a bit, just out of curiosity, to see what was what. Don’t tell my sister, she’d say I was taking it too seriously.
And here’s what I quickly figured out: these numbers are a starting point, a very rough guide. They are not the be-all and end-all. I saw kids who probably weren’t hitting the top-end numbers for their age bracket, but they had smart at-bats, hit line drives, and knew how to place the ball. They got on base. Then you’d see other kids, built like tanks, swinging out of their shoes trying to light up the radar gun, and they’d strike out or hit a pop fly.
It reminded me a bit of when I was learning to cook. You can follow a recipe perfectly, measure every ingredient down to the gram, but if you don’t have a feel for it, if you don’t know when the heat is too high or when something just looks right, it can still turn out pretty average. It’s the same with this exit velocity stuff. A kid can have a “pro-level” exit velo for his age, but if he’s swinging at bad pitches or has a terrible launch angle, what good is it really?
So, What’s My Takeaway?
After all this, my practical conclusion is that, yeah, exit velocity is a tool. It’s a piece of data. It can tell you something about a player’s raw power, their potential. But it’s just one piece. I spent a lot of time focusing on these numbers, trying to see who measured up.
But then I started watching more, and listening to the smarter coaches. They were talking about bat speed, sure, but also about mechanics, pitch recognition, and the mental game. They were looking at the whole player. It’s not just about hitting it hard; it’s about hitting it hard and smart, consistently.
So, if you’re like me and you hear “exit velocity” and start wondering what’s “good,” remember those ranges I found. They give you a ballpark. But then, go watch the game. See who’s actually playing well, who’s developing. That’s been my journey with it. The numbers are interesting, but the real story is usually out there on the field, not just on a spreadsheet or a radar gun display. It’s easy to get caught up in chasing numbers, but at the end of the day, it’s about playing the game, and playing it well. That’s what I’m trying to keep in mind now.
