Soft Ball ?

[oddjob]

Does anyone know why girls/women fast pitch underhanded? why dont the men do fast pitch soft ball? And which is superior? and if it is why dont both genders use the method?

 

[SpinnerBait_Nut]

Re: Soft Ball ?

Because oddjob, it's no fun watching the men do the whirly dirly like it is when the women do it.<br /><br />When they go into that windup, everything is moving.

 

[gaugeguy]

Re: Soft Ball ?

I play in a mens softball league, very competetive, with lots of great ball players. We (I) pitch "modified", which means its still underhand, but I can't let my hand go above my shoulder on my backswing. The girls can pitch "full windmill" motion in high school and college, and it is much faster and they can throw a lot of different pitches that way. I don't know why it's like that, but my guess is that if a guy pitches full windmill and the batter gets ahold of one, the infielders would not have time to react to it and someone would get hurt badly or even killed.

 

[tylerin]

Re: Soft Ball ?

Actually men do play fast-pitch softball. There's an old guy (something like the king and his court) who was unhittable. Many MLB players tried to hit against him and couldn't. Long time ago. This guy was also the national horsehoe champion at the time. As for why girls throw underhand only well I haven't a clue

 

[tylerin]

Re: Soft Ball ?

Gaugeguy I play centerfield for both fast pitch and slow pitch. I stand a heck of alot farther back in slow pitch than fastpitch. They have differant color dots on the ball and I don't know what they use for either. Ones harder than the other

 

[Ralph 123]

Re: Soft Ball ?

I sold a lot of softballs. The dots (for Worth softballs) has to do with the COR (which determines how far the ball flies)<br /><br />The Coefficient of Restitution (COR) is a measure of how resilient or "bouncy" the ball is. An official major league ball is supposed to have a COR between .514 and .578. If a batter can hit the ball 400 feet at the low end of the scale, the same batter should be able to hit the ball 49 feet farther using a ball with COR at the top end of the scale.<br /><br />

<br /><br />Here is a great table that show the balls, dots and what each it intended for:<br /><br /> http://www.worthsports.com/technology/ballguide.html

 

[gaugeguy]

Re: Soft Ball ?

The red dot balls are the standard "normal flight" balls and the blue dot balls are "restricted flight".<br /><br />Modified pitch softball is faster than slow pitch. In slow pitch, the ball has to go at least 12 feet high and hit a black piece of rubber behind the plate to be a strike.<br /><br />The king and his court are fast pitch, full windmill, but his court is just three other players. I really haven't seen any mens league that throw full windmill. I throw pretty hard and my third baseman has taken some shots (you can bunt and steal so he has to play pretty shallow), I wouldn't want to see him take a shot from a full windmill right at him.<br /><br />I have been hit numerous times by balls hit back up the middle. You are only 45 feet away, not a lot of reaction time. I don't know why they call it "soft", that ball is pretty hard when it hits you.

 

[gaugeguy]

Re: Soft Ball ?

Oh by the way, I'm the second oldest player in the whole league. I play in the over 18 league, once it's time for me to have to play in the over 30 league (I'm 37), I'll retire. I could dominate in the duffer league though (an MVP trophy and a couple no hitters would be awesome).

 

[Ralph 123]

Re: Soft Ball ?

Hey gaugeguy - I had customers in NH. Ever buy any softballs off eBay

 

[gaugeguy]

Re: Soft Ball ?

The league buys a ton of balls every year out of some sporting goods catalog. Do you sell bats, too? Always looking for the latest bat that can launch a ball into the stratosphere.

 

[tylerin]

Re: Soft Ball ?

Playing Centefield, I just have more fun in slow-pitch... limited arc. In fast pitch I see more guys hit down on the ball than anything. By the time you field it the guys standing on first. I hate that part of the game. I too, play with the young guys still. (over 18). No way I'm going to play w/ them old farts even though I am one(42)

 

[gaugeguy]

Re: Soft Ball ?

That's what makes it fun Tylerin, playing with the young'uns who have the wheels. The SS and the third baseman have to be exceptional atheletes to make a move on the ball, field it cleanly, and make a fast accurate throw to first to get the out. There are probably two or three guys in our league that are so fast they can beat out any throw from the infield. That is where I try to pitch them outside, to get a ground out to the first base side--or put a lot of forward spin on the pitch so they pop it up. I have a lot of fun playing, and like I said, it is very competitive. When two good teams match up, very rarely does anyone score more than 7 or 8 runs a game--sometimes more than 5 runs against some of the pitchers we have is a very good game.

 

[Ralph 123]

Re: Soft Ball ?

gaugeguy - all my bats are sold sadly - had some nice LS TPX bats - got all kinds of email from buyers talking about hitting homers the first time they used them

 

[gaugeguy]

Re: Soft Ball ?

Are those double walled?

 

[Ralph 123]

Re: Soft Ball ?

I don't remember the specs. They were tough to find I guess which is why they did so well on eBay. They had been in storage for a few years when I bought them so they were probably out of production by the time I sold them.<br /><br />One of my best finds were American Made Rawlings heart-of-the-hide baseball gloves. They haven't been made in the US for a while and they were coveted by serious players. I had people in Japan willing to pay any price. Probably being used in the pros there right now.