There's no crying in softball

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There was a study done, I believe by some orthopedic group, during the 1996 Olympics if I'm remembering correctly. I think it's purpose was to study the stress effects of fastpitch pitchers on the shoulder complex as related to pitching style and some other factors. Links to a report of the results of the study was floating around on the various forums for a good while but I can't find it quickly. But as I recall, they captured data on 24 pitchers from the various countries competing in softball and the report had a chart tabulating data, including speed, on all of the pitches thrown to batters for at least 22 of the 24 pitchers listed. They used 3 radar guns and cameras to capture the data for analysis.

Again, this is from memory, but I think the chart showing pitch speed for all the pitches was quite interesting because it only had something like 2 or 3 pitches over 70 mph.

Contrast this to the number of coaches, parents, and players that claim they regularly pitch in excess of 70 mph, from 10U up. This was best summed up by a friend who said that the pitcher had one pitch, one time, over 70 mph that was thrown from the back of pickup while on an interstate highway. That established her speed for evermore.