Softball pitching speed by age
Pick an age, enter a fastpitch speed in mph, and see it against two published sets of ranges: Fastpitcher’s, from a pitching instructor’s lessons, and NextCommit’s, from camps and showcases. They disagree, so both are shown with their names on them.
By Adelyons Software LLC · Published 2026-10-16
Softball pitching speed by age chart
Fastpitcher’s ranges, by year of age, in mph.
| Age | Average | High-end average |
|---|---|---|
| 10 | 35-39 mph | 40-43 mph |
| 11 | 38-42 mph | 43-46 mph |
| 12 | 41-48 mph | 49-53 mph |
| 13 | 45-53 mph | 54-56 mph |
| 14 | 46-54 mph | 55-58 mph |
| 15 | 49-54 mph | 55-60 mph |
| 16 | 51-55 mph | 56-62 mph |
| 17 | 52-56 mph | 57-65 mph |
| 18 | 55-59 mph | 60-68 mph |
| College | 58-65 mph | 66-74 mph |
NextCommit’s ranges, by age group, in mph. Its “strong” is about the top quarter of the group.
| Group | Average | Strong |
|---|---|---|
| 10U | 33-38 mph | 39-43 mph |
| 12U | 41-48 mph | 49-53 mph |
| 14U | 46-52 mph | 53-58 mph |
| 16U | 51-56 mph | 57-61 mph |
| 18U | 54-59 mph | 60+ mph |
How to read these ranges
Neither source publishes the readings behind its ranges or how spread out they are, and they differ by up to a few mph at the same age. Read a number that is inside one source’s range and below the other’s as about average. Radar guns differ from each other too, so compare a pitcher with her own readings, taken the same way.
High school and college fastpitch is pitched from 43 feet (NFHS since 2010-11). For what a softball speed equals at another distance, see the pitch speed converter.
Questions
- How fast should a 12 year old softball pitcher throw?
- Fastpitcher, a pitching instructor’s site, puts the average 12-year-old at 41-48 mph. NextCommit puts the average 12U pitcher at 41-48 mph. Pitchers new to the circle often start in the mid 30s.
- What is a good softball pitching speed for a 14 year old?
- Fastpitcher’s average for 14 is 46-54 mph, and NextCommit’s 14U average is 46-52 mph. Fastpitcher notes its ranges are wide at 12 to 14 because new and experienced pitchers are the same age.
- Why is there no softball percentile?
- No source we could find publishes the spread of softball pitching speeds by age, and the published ranges disagree by several mph. So the tool shows both sets of ranges and where a speed sits in each, and makes up no percentile.
Measure yours free with Baseball Tracker
Film a pitch, a swing or a run to first on your phone and the app reads the pitch speed, bat speed or sprint speed from the video, keeps every reading, and shows how it changes over a season. The readings are estimates from video, not a radar gun.
More free tools
- Pitching velocity by age: chart and percentilePick an age from 9 to 18, enter a pitch speed, and see the estimated percentile from a published study of 420 pitchers.
- Exit velocity by age: baseball and softball rangesEnter an exit velocity and see where it sits against published average, goal and top-10% ranges for the age.
- Pitch speed converter: mph, km/h and speed by distanceConvert mph and km/h, and turn a speed at 46, 50 or 43 feet into the equivalent speed at 60 feet 6 inches.
- Pitch count rules by age: Pitch Smart limits and rest daysThe daily pitch limit for an age and the days of rest a day’s count calls for, from MLB and USA Baseball’s Pitch Smart.
Where the numbers come from
The ranges are restated from the two published sources below, not from Baseball Tracker’s measurements. No percentile is given because no source publishes the spread needed for one.
- Fastpitcher, Average softball pitching speeds by age (a pitching instructor’s ranges from lessons, not a measured study): https://fastpitcher.com/average-softball-pitching-speeds-by-age/. Read on 2026-10-16.
- NextCommit, Softball pitching speed by age (fastball ranges seen at camps and showcases; “strong” is about the top quarter): https://www.nextcommit.ai/blog/softball-pitching-speed-by-age. Read on 2026-10-16.
- NFHS softball rule change 1-1-2b, as published by the Ohio High School Athletic Association: fastpitch pitching distance 43 feet from 2010-11: https://ohsaa.org/sports/sb/girls/2010/10rulechanges.htm. Read on 2026-10-16.