Reaction Time (in seconds) for Baseball Pitches by Speed and Distance

8/14/2008 account for speed reduction from mound to plate

determine the type of pitch

determine if it's a strike or a ball

determine the speed of the pitched ball

finish the stride and get their foot down

get the bat to the ball

the pitcher strides in front of the pitching rubber toward the plate before he releases the ball

the hitter must make contact with the ball well in front of the rear of home plate

the pitch speed displayed on the radar gun is the speed close to release of the ball, not the average speed

Deduct from the distance - the pitcher's stride/release point (6 ft for pros, etc.)

Deduct from the distance - the distance from the back of the plate to the contact point (say one foot)

Reduce the speed - the speed at the plate averages 9 mph slower than 50ft mark for 100 mph (say 4 mph avg for pros, down to 2mph)

First Glance Reaction Time - Table 1 Distances in Feet Radar Gun Speed in mph Distance to Mound Distance Used 50 mph 60 mph 70 mph 80 mph 90 mph 100 mph 60.5 feet

High School, College and Pro



60.5 feet 0.825 sec 0.688 sec 0.589 sec 0.516 sec 0.458 sec 0.413 sec 54 feet

13-14 Pony



54 feet 0.736 sec 0.614 sec 0.526 sec 0.46 sec n/a n/a 46 feet

11-12 Major



46 feet 0.627 sec 0.523 sec 0.448 sec n/a n/a n/a 40 feet

7-10 PeeWee Minor



40 feet 0.545 sec 0.455 sec n/a n/a n/a n/a Realistic Reaction Time - Table 2 Adjusted for pitcher's stride and release point, hitter's contact point, and pitch speed reduction to plate. Distances in Feet Speed in mph Distance to Mound Distance From

Pitcher's Hand

to Bat Contact 50 mph

(46/47/47/48 mph) 60 mph

(56/57/57/58 mph) 70 mph

(66/67/67 mph) 80 mph

(76/77 mph) 90 mph

(86 mph) 100 mph

(96 mph) 60.5 feet

High School, College and Pro



53.5 feet 0.793 sec 0.651 sec 0.553 sec 0.48 sec 0.424 sec 0.38 sec 54 feet

13-14 Pony



47 feet 0.682 sec 0.562 sec 0.478 sec 0.416 sec n/a n/a 46 feet

11-12 Major



40 feet 0.58 sec 0.478 sec 0.407 sec n/a n/a n/a 40 feet

7-10 PeeWee Minor



35 feet 0.497 sec 0.411 sec n/a n/a n/a n/a

Hitters have roughly 0.40 seconds reaction time (typically) to:At first glance, it appears simple to calculate the number of milliseconds that the hitter has to react to a pitch. Just take the distance (pitching rubber to home plate) times the speed per foot. That's what we did inHowever, then you realize there may be some other factors involved, such as:OK, simple enough. So we adjust accordingly infor each age group as follows:These factors result in a net reduction of the reaction time for a 100 mph fastball by 33 milliseconds (or 8%) to .380 seconds.