What is a good pitching velocity for a softball pitcher?
Athlete Quotient's D1 benchmark for a softball pitcher is 63. The D2 rung is 58, D3 is 55 and high school varsity is 52. The elite D1 rung is 70.
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The pitching velocity ladder
| Rung | Pitching Velocity (mph) |
|---|---|
| D1 elite | 70 |
| D1 | 63 |
| D1 floor | 60 |
| D2 | 58 |
| D3 | 55 |
| HS varsity | 52 |
The number that actually matters
The distance from the high school varsity rung (52) to the D1 rung (63) is 11. That gap is the actual answer to "is my pitching velocity good" - not a yes or a no, but a distance you can train against.
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Check your pitching velocity against this ladder
Type your pitching velocity and it is read against the ladder above, right here on the page. It is never sent and never stored.
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Find out where your number lands
A benchmark tells you the bar. Your AQ Score tells you where you stand against it - all five dimensions, your gaps, and the level you actually fit, scored by the same engine this ladder comes from. Your first score is free.
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Common questions
What is a good pitching velocity for a softball pitcher?
Athlete Quotient's D1 benchmark for a softball pitcher is 63. The D2 rung is 58, D3 is 55 and high school varsity is 52. The elite D1 rung is 70.
What pitching velocity do you need for D2 or D3 softball?
For a softball pitcher, the D2 rung is 58 and the D3 rung is 55. The D1 rung sits at 63, and the same rule applies at every level: the number that matters is your distance to the rung above.
What is a good pitching velocity for a 15 year old?
Athlete Quotient benchmarks by level, not age. A 15 year old on varsity measures against the same high school varsity rung as a 17 year old, because college coaches recruit against the level an athlete plays at, not the birthday. What changes with age is time - how many training seasons remain to close the gap to the next rung.
How to read this
Each rung is a bar on the Athlete Quotient benchmark ladder - the same tables the scoring engine uses, exported from it rather than retyped, so this page can never quietly disagree with a score. Being under a rung does not close a door; it tells you the size of the gap, which is the only number you can actually train against.
These are Athlete Quotient's own benchmarks. Where a published college figure exists we use it; where none exists, the rung is ours. We would rather say that than claim a source we do not have.