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


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

Hitters have roughly 0.40 seconds reaction time (typically) to:
  • 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
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 in Table 1.

However, then you realize there may be some other factors involved, such as:
  • 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
OK, simple enough. So we adjust accordingly in Table 2 for each age group as follows:
  • 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)
These factors result in a net reduction of the reaction time for a 100 mph fastball by 33 milliseconds (or 8%) to .380 seconds.

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