When my oldest son jumped to 12U baseball, we both noticed one glaring difference about the new field he'd be playing on -- the pitching mound was farther away from home plate.
At first, he seemed a little intimidated by the extra feet from the 10U pitching distance.
But it only took a couple of throws from the new mound distance to calm his fears.
It's great to know the pitching distances by age if your young player loves pitching and plays long enough.
I'll cover them in this article, along with how to measure them so your backyard sessions are as realistic as possible.
What is the pitching distance for MLB?
Today, the pitching rubber in all 30 MLB ballparks is the same distance from home plate that it has been since 1893: 60 feet 6 inches.
But getting to that distance took some tinkering.
First, the earliest mounds weren't actually raised or round but flat boxes 45 feet away from home plate, a distance officially established in 1857.
As pitchers dominated more and more in the following years, baseball started moving the mound -- or, err, box -- back: first to 50 feet in 1881, then 55 feet 6 inches in 1887.
Finally, in 1893, the National League moved it back five more feet to 60 feet 6 inches. At the same time, they replaced the pitcher's box with a 12-inch by 4-inch "slab" for the pitcher to place their back foot on.
(Today, the pitcher's plate, as it's technically called by MLB, is 24-inches by 6-inches.)
And, for whatever reason, that distance -- 60 feet 6 inches -- has stuck ever since.
How is pitching distance measured?
Before your kid starts firing fastballs across the backyard, know that there's a certain way to measure the distance between the mound and home plate.
It's actually quite easy.
Pitching distance is measured from the front edge of the mound to the back point (also called the "apex") of home plate.
Pitching distance guidelines
OK, so now you know how to correctly measure pitching distance.
But why does it matter?
I see two main reasons:
1. Fit leads to proper training. In the same way that young golfers don't use adult-size clubs, or beginner soccer players don't use adult-size balls and goals, young pitchers shouldn't throw from adult-sized distances.
In virtually all sports, training on a field and with equipment that is proportional to the young player's size helps them to learn the fundamental skills faster and better.
2. Injury prevention. There are many factors that contribute to pitching-related injuries, and I could imagine a younger pitcher throwing too far would not set a healthy foundation for their pitching mechanics.
Pitching Distance: USSSA
The baseball division of USSSA, the United States Specialty Sports Association, has some complex but interesting guidelines for how far the pitcher's mound should be from home plate.
Up until the age of 13, it's pretty straightforward: 8U teams pitch from 40 feet, 10U teams pitch from 46 feet, and 12U teams pitch from 50 feet.
It gets more complicated for 14U.
USSSA baseball tournaments have three divisions of play for 13- to 14-year-olds, and the biggest difference is the field dimensions with pitching distances of 54 feet, 57 feet (for just 14-year-olds), and the MLB-style 60 feet 6 inches.
The dimensions correspond with different distances for the basepaths, ranging from 80 feet to the MLB-regulation 90 feet.
Here's the full breakdown of pitching distances by age (with basepath distances in parenthesis):
- Ages 7-8: 40 feet
- Ages 9-10: 46 feet
- Ages 11-12: 50 feet
- Ages 13-14 (80): 54 feet
- Ages 14 (85): 57 feet
- Ages 13-14 (90): 60 feet 6 inches
- Ages 15-18: 60 feet 6 inches
Pitching Distance: Little League
Things are a little different with Little League pitching distance.
First, the organization is organized into five divisions based on a combination of age and skill level: Minor, Major, Intermediate (also called 50/70), Junior, and Senior.
Second, the organization gives local leagues some leeway in deciding when players can "play up" or "play down" a division according to skill level or parent preference.
Here's the full breakdown of pitching distances by Little League division (with age in parenthesis):
- Minor (9-10): 46 feet
- Major (10-12): 46 feet
- Intermediate 50/70 (11-13): 48 feet 6 inches
- Junior (12-14): 60 feet 6 inches
- Senior (13-16): 60 feet 6 inches
Pitching Distance: MLB Pitch Smart
Back in 2014, Major League Baseball and USA Baseball teamed up to create "a comprehensive resource for safe pitching practices" called Pitch Smart.
In it, they broke down the proper pitching distance by age as follows:
- Ages 7-8: 46 feet
- Ages 9-12: 46-50 feet
- Ages 13-18: 60 feet 6 inches
Pitch Smart goes much further than just recommending pitching distances for age groups.
It also sets guidelines for pitch counts during games and rest periods between pitching all the way up through age 22.
For instance, it recommends pitchers ages 9-10 shouldn't throw more than 75 pitches in a game or more than 80 innings in a year, shouldn't pitch in multiple games on the same day, or throw pitches other than fastballs and change-ups, among other guidelines.
Conclusion
We started out in this article by:
1. Defining the MLB pitching distance -- 60 feet 6 inches.
2. Understanding the proper way to measure pitching distance -- from the front of the pitching rubber to the back point (or "apex") of home plate.
3. How some of the country's top youth baseball organizations set pitching distances by age.
Now you should know everything you need to get your backyard pitching sessions perfect for your young pitcher no matter their age.