If you've watched your daughter hit and wondered "is that number any good for her age?" — you're asking exactly the right question, and it's a harder one to answer honestly than most sites let on. Exit velocity is one of the three numbers college coaches ask about first, but a raw mph reading means nothing without the context of her age division. A 50 mph exit velo is outstanding for a 10U player and developing for a 16U player. Same number, completely different story.
Below are the exit velocity benchmark bands Fastpitch Authority uses at every event, broken out by age. These are the same standards behind our free Player Eval — measured, not reported.
How to read these numbers
For each age division we list three bands: Developing, On Track, and Above Benchmark. Landing in the middle band means she's right where the bulk of her division sits. Reaching the top band means she's ahead of the curve — the level where verified numbers start getting noticed on recruiting boards.
One important note before the table: these are tee readings — the max exit velocity off a stationary tee. Live game readings typically run 5–10 mph lower, because timing a moving pitch is harder than squaring up a ball that isn't going anywhere. When you compare numbers, always compare tee-to-tee.
Exit velocity benchmarks by age (mph, off a tee)
| Age | Developing | On Track | Above Benchmark |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8U | ~28 | ~36 | 44+ |
| 9U | ~32 | ~40 | 48+ |
| 10U | ~36 | ~44 | 51+ |
| 11U | ~40 | ~47 | 54+ |
| 12U | ~43 | ~50 | 57+ |
| 13U | ~47 | ~53 | 60+ |
| 14U | ~50 | ~56 | 62+ |
| 15U | ~53 | ~59 | 65+ |
| 16U | ~55 | ~61 | 67+ |
| 17U | ~57 | ~63 | 69+ |
| 18U | ~58 | ~64 | 70+ |
What the number does — and doesn't — tell you
Exit velocity is a real, measurable indicator of how hard your daughter hits the ball, and it's one coaches genuinely care about. But it's one number among several. It doesn't measure her pitch recognition, her approach, her competitiveness, or what she does with runners on base. A benchmark read is a starting line, not a verdict — no single number grades what happens between the pitches.
It's also worth remembering that kids grow, and they grow at wildly different rates. A 12U player sitting in the Developing band may be On Track by 13U simply because her body caught up. The number is a snapshot of today, not a prediction of her ceiling.
How to measure exit velocity accurately at home
If you want a number you can actually trust, a few things matter:
- Use a tee. It removes timing from the equation and gives you a clean, repeatable read of raw bat-to-ball power.
- Take the max, not the average. Let her take several swings and record her best clean contact — mishits will drag an average down and won't reflect her real ceiling.
- Keep the setup consistent. Same tee height, same ball, same device placement every time, so you're comparing like to like as she progresses.
- Be honest about conditions. A number is only useful if it was measured cleanly. Inflated readings help no one — least of all your daughter when a coach measures her in person.
From a benchmark read to a number that counts
Here's the part that matters for recruiting. Anyone can report an exit velocity — and coaches know it, which is why they discount numbers they can't trust. The number that shows up on the boards and gets in front of college programs is the one that's FPA-Verified: measured in person at an event, or Video-Verified under our protocol and reviewed by FPA staff. That's what turns a stat into something a coach can rely on.
Curious where your daughter stands right now? Run her free Player Eval — enter her real numbers and get an honest read against these benchmark bands in about a minute. When you're ready to make those numbers count, find an FPA event to get her verified.
Fastpitch Authority builds honest, verified rankings for youth fastpitch players. Measured, not reported.