54' 80' fields

[bigredmachine#1]

What do you guys think about 13u playing on a 54' 80' field as an interim step between 50' 70' at 12u and 60'6" 90' at 14u/high school???

My older son made the jump from 50' 70' to 60'6" 90' quite successfully. now my younger son's travel/tournament team is talking about playing on the 54' 80' diamond next year at 13u instead of going up to the 60'6" 90' field. i would like him to have a year at 60'6" 90' before playing high school ball where he will, of course, have to play at 60'6" 90'. He is a pitcher and i am concerned he may not be as prepared for 60'6" if he plays at 54' the year before high school.

I think the desire of the coach to play at 54' 80' may be driven by the fact his son, as well as one of his assistants son, are on the small size physically and may struggle on a full size field.

I am leaning towards finding a new team for next year that will play on a full size 90' field. That's to bad though, my son has several friends on this team and they have enjoyed a lot of success.

Any thoughts???

[theprospect09]

Do not waste a year on some in between field. Take it as a learning experience before he reaches high school and put him on the bigger field; aka 60' 90'. You will be glad you did when it comes time for him to try out the following year when he is a freshmen in high school. I played on a 60' 90' field when I was only 12 and in the 7th grade, but then again I played up quite a few years for my age then. Go with your gut on this and tell your son to just get used to it this year and chalk it up to a learning experience.

Good luck!

p.s.- I pitched and played shortstop, so as long as he has developed proper arm strength by throwing everyday at game speed and working on building his stamina by throwing on a line; he will adjust just fine like I did. Message me if you have any questions.

[Ursa Major]

First of all, don't let macho attitudes -- and I'm not saying you have any, but I have seen it -- guide the issue. If your son is big and strong for his age and can find a good team that will have him that plays on 90 foot bases, go for it. But, if your concern is his pitching, I don't think a year at 54' will kill his chances, particularly if he's been pitching from 46 feet. Making the 14 foot jump from 46 to 60 feet can result in kids dramatically altering their pitching motions and hurting their arms.

Part of the answer is very technical. If his birthday falls before April 30th and he will be playing in two years of 80' bases as an 8th grader, he can probably make the jump the following spring as a freshman, particularly if he can find a summer ball team after his 8th grade year that plays with 90 foot bases. If he's got a later birthday and would be playing his second year at 80 foot bases during his freshman year, he might want to jump earlier.

I'd consider his desires as well. If the move to jump to 90 foot ball requires him to leave a group of friends he's been playing with for years to a team where he not only doesn't know the kids and coach and maybe won't get much playing time, I'd honor his request to stay where he is.

As a kid, I jumped from 60 foot bases to 90 foot at age 13, and it was a joke. A lot of kids couldn't make the throws, and pitchers could get away with mediocre pitching, because each team only had a few kids who could reach the outfield. There wasn't much learning. My son has been playing this spring (at age 13) on the 80 foot bases and it made so much more sense for everyone. It sure was a lot more fun, because more kids could reach the outfield, swings had to be more efficient because the pitchers were closer, and it wasn't the walkfest that can occur when 13 year olds are suddenly confronted with throwing from 60 feet.

In any case, I'd weigh the fun he'll have on the smaller field against the slim likelihood that the larger field by itself will affect his game throughout his high school career. (Most kids are still assumed to be learning the big field as a freshman anyway.)

[bigredmachine#1]

First of all, don't let macho attitudes -- and I'm not saying you have any, but I have seen it -- guide the issue. If your son is big and strong for his age and can find a good team that will have him that plays on 90 foot bases, go for it. But, if your concern is his pitching, I don't think a year at 54' will kill his chances, particularly if he's been pitching from 46 feet. Making the 14 foot jump from 46 to 60 feet can result in kids dramatically altering their pitching motions and hurting their arms.

Part of the answer is very technical. If his birthday falls before April 30th and he will be playing in two years of 80' bases as an 8th grader, he can probably make the jump the following spring as a freshman, particularly if he can find a summer ball team after his 8th grade year that plays with 90 foot bases. If he's got a later birthday and would be playing his second year at 80 foot bases during his freshman year, he might want to jump earlier.

I'd consider his desires as well. If the move to jump to 90 foot ball requires him to leave a group of friends he's been playing with for years to a team where he not only doesn't know the kids and coach and maybe won't get much playing time, I'd honor his request to stay where he is.

As a kid, I jumped from 60 foot bases to 90 foot at age 13, and it was a joke. A lot of kids couldn't make the throws, and pitchers could get away with mediocre pitching, because each team only had a few kids who could reach the outfield. There wasn't much learning. My son has been playing this spring (at age 13) on the 80 foot bases and it made so much more sense for everyone. It sure was a lot more fun, because more kids could reach the outfield, swings had to be more efficient because the pitchers were closer, and it wasn't the walkfest that can occur when 13 year olds are suddenly confronted with throwing from 60 feet.

In any case, I'd weigh the fun he'll have on the smaller field against the slim likelihood that the larger field by itself will affect his game throughout his high school career. (Most kids are still assumed to be learning the big field as a freshman anyway.)

No macho attitudes or big egos on my part. My son has been playing on
50' 70' fields for the past 2 years. He also plays 3rd base and outfield along with the pitching that I mentioned in my original post. He is big for his age (5'7" 150), like my older son who made the jump to 60'90' from 50'70'. I just want him to be as prepared as possible to play high school ball. You made some very good points regarding the 80' field that I will consider. Thanks UM.

[bigredmachine#1]

Do not waste a year on some in between field. Take it as a learning experience before he reaches high school and put him on the bigger field; aka 60' 90'. You will be glad you did when it comes time for him to try out the following year when he is a freshmen in high school. I played on a 60' 90' field when I was only 12 and in the 7th grade, but then again I played up quite a few years for my age then. Go with your gut on this and tell your son to just get used to it this year and chalk it up to a learning experience.

Good luck!

p.s.- I pitched and played shortstop, so as long as he has developed proper arm strength by throwing everyday at game speed and working on building his stamina by throwing on a line; he will adjust just fine like I did. Message me if you have any questions.

I'm leaning toward going to the 60'90' field next year. Ursa did make some good points rearding the 80' field that should be considered. Thank you for responding prospect09.

[mudvnine]

Nothing wrong with starting next year at 54/80 and then moving up the second half of the season to 60/90. As far as available tournaments for both, I have never had a problem finding them at either distance.

I currently have a 13U travel team and we play the majority of our games at 54/80, but have entered several 14U tournaments that were 60/90 and did quite well and none of my pitchers seemed to have trouble adjusting to the varying distances.

What I did notice however, was that my lesser hitters, hit better in the 60/90 games which I attribute to being able to see the ball longer and having move time to make adjustments.

It's our experience that the difference between a 13 y/o pitcher vs. a 14 y/o pitcher is negligible in comparison to the jump from 12 to a 13. It boils down to a growth and maturity factor, a big 13 y/o is throwing comparable to a big 14 y/o, generally speaking.

Finally, in my experiences with HS baseball, it doesn't matter whether they come from 54/80 or 60/90, all seem to adjust just fine at the freshaman level team. It's not until the JV and varsity level that the jump is apparent, so if you think your son can play can play JV or varsity as a freshman then I would get him on a 60/90 field, but also, more importantly, I'd say you better get him on a 15U team instead of the 13's, because that's who he'll be competing against next year at JV and varsity if he plays "up" as a freshman.

If he won't be playing "up" as a freshman, then I don't think the size of the field really matters; it then becomes which team he enjoys more and which coaches can he learn the most from.


Good luck,

[Jake Patterson]

What do you guys think about 13u playing on a 54' 80' field as an interim step between 50' 70' at 12u and 60'6" 90' at 14u/high school???

My older son made the jump from 50' 70' to 60'6" 90' quite successfully. now my younger son's travel/tournament team is talking about playing on the 54' 80' diamond next year at 13u instead of going up to the 60'6" 90' field. i would like him to have a year at 60'6" 90' before playing high school ball where he will, of course, have to play at 60'6" 90'. He is a pitcher and i am concerned he may not be as prepared for 60'6" if he plays at 54' the year before high school.

I think the desire of the coach to play at 54' 80' may be driven by the fact his son, as well as one of his assistants son, are on the small size physically and may struggle on a full size field.

I am leaning towards finding a new team for next year that will play on a full size 90' field. That's to bad though, my son has several friends on this team and they have enjoyed a lot of success.

Any thoughts???

Is he playing school ball?

[bigredmachine#1]

Is he playing school ball?

No. School ball does not start until 9th grade (freshman year) in the state where he plays. Until high school it's rec ball, travel teams and the leagues they play in or tournament teams.

[TG Coach]

Our local governing body of USSSA tried 13U fall ball (after summer on smaller fields) at 54/80. I never heard how it went. I beleive 13U fall ball and the following year rec ball is better suited to 54/80. The better travel kids don't need a transition field by the spring of 13U. Regardless of a kid's size (mine was 5'2", 100 in 13U) if they hit line drive homers in LL and travel, they're hitting line drive singles and doubles on the 60/90.

[Ursa Major]

If he's an accomplished player, at that size he's plenty big for the big field. Heck, Ursa Minor played on the big field last summer in the municipal rec league at age 12 (he two weeks too old to stay at the 12 y/o, 60 foot basepath level), and he did fine even though he was only 5/2 and 95 pounds. As Mudvnine mentioned, in one way it was easier, because he was seeing pitches from 60 feet rather than 48 feet (at the Pony Bronco level), and had to wait for the ball. If anything, it allowed some slop to creep back into his swing.

In jumping from smaller fields in spring ball to the big field in summer ball, once change I notice that may affect him is the effect on shortstops and third basemen. Those sloppy arm throws that will get the ball to first base on an 80' diamond will not do on the big field. You've got to use solid, aggressive footwork on your throws, or they will either go wild or end up looping to first base as the hitter crosses the bag before the ball. Any kid who's wants to play on the left side of the infield but isn't willing to take a zillion grounders to get that footwork down is not ready for the big field.

As is discussed in another thread, he'll want to use a -3 bat to get ready for that limitation in high school ball. At his size -- and particularly if he's using decent mechanics -- that shouldn't be a problem. I just got my son a used 32/29 to use for summer ball (to get ready for high school ball next spring) and was surprised how well that he (still only 105 lbs.) was able to spray the ball around the outfield with his solid swing in his first BP session this summer.