The Difference Between Jugs Guns And Ray Guns In Tracking Pitching Velocity

As you advance in pitching, velocity guns will become a big part of your playing experience. It's what scouts most certainly talk about. Now, it's not the most important element in getting drafted, as I've talked about on this blog, but, let's face it, it's a big part of it. And... like a player's height, for example, it's an identifying factor for pitchers.

With that said, there are essentially two velocity guns that track pitching velocity, and both are used by scouts: 1) the Jugs Gun, and 2) the Ray Gun.

The difference?

The Ray is about 4-5 mph slower than the Jugs, but that margin of difference becomes less as pitching velocity increases.

For example, 90 mph on the Jugs may only register at 86 mph on the Ray (a 4 mph difference). But 95 mph on the Jugs registers at 92 mph on the Ray (a 3 mph difference).

Pro scouts use both the Jugs and Ray depending on the type of gun used in their organization. However, the tendency in recent years has been toward the Jugs Gun (even scouts like to see bigger velocity readings!).

As you've read on my blog, to become an effective pitcher you need a lot of different qualities. Pitching velocity is one of those qualities. And Jugs and Ray guns are just one way to track it.

Steven Ellis
The Complete Pitcher®
www.thecompletepitcher.com