Differences Between Baseball And Softball
“Just because the ball is bigger does not mean it is any easier!” A quote from US professional softball pitcher,Jennie Finch, 6 that was in an experiment to show the differences between softball and baseball. Personally, I have playing softball since I was 5. I started with t-ball and moved my way up to a class A player as a junior, as well as a varsity player as a junior. When I played t-ball, obviously, I was younger so it is hard for me to make a judgement which is harder off of my personal experience, but others have been able to find a difference. The game looks the side, but there are several factors that prove that softball is more difficult. Some would be, ball movement, field size, ground texture, ball and bat sizes, and game rules.
…show more content…
To start with the pitching mounds are completely different. Baseball has a 9 foot radius pitching circle 60 feet away from the point of home plate. The mound is raised to elevation which creates a downward movement on the pitch. Because the ball is traveling down the batter can go with gravity on his swing which allows the ball to fly higher creating more home runs in baseball. A tougher part about baseball is the speed of the pitch. An average pitching speed in high school is about 70-75 MPH. Moving to about the mid 80 in college, and ending in the upper 90s to the low 100s in the major leagues. Because the ball is traveling that fast, batters are taught to start there swing as soon as the ball is released, giving themselves about .44 seconds to see the ball and swing to make solid contact. Milwaukee Brewers, Jeremy Jeffress, stats in his latest interview “ I have pitched better since wearing a Brewer’s jersey, in fact, much much better.” On the other side, the softball pitching mounds are flat but only a 8 foot radius circle about 35-43 feet from home plate,depending on the age. Softball pitching is much different than baseball, it is called the windmill. The windmill allows the ball to travel with an upward movement making it more difficult to hit, because the batter has to go against gravity. Since the ball already has an upward movement, from the release at the hip, a pitcher can throw a rise ball. A rise ball comes across the plate looking like a normal fast ball but brakes and shoots up out of the strike zone, making the batter swing for an easy strike. Pitching and locations of pitching is another reason that the sports are different, but the bats,balls, and rules can affect it as
To start with the pitching mounds are completely different. Baseball has a 9 foot radius pitching circle 60 feet away from the point of home plate. The mound is raised to elevation which creates a downward movement on the pitch. Because the ball is traveling down the batter can go with gravity on his swing which allows the ball to fly higher creating more home runs in baseball. A tougher part about baseball is the speed of the pitch. An average pitching speed in high school is about 70-75 MPH. Moving to about the mid 80 in college, and ending in the upper 90s to the low 100s in the major leagues. Because the ball is traveling that fast, batters are taught to start there swing as soon as the ball is released, giving themselves about .44 seconds to see the ball and swing to make solid contact. Milwaukee Brewers, Jeremy Jeffress, stats in his latest interview “ I have pitched better since wearing a Brewer’s jersey, in fact, much much better.” On the other side, the softball pitching mounds are flat but only a 8 foot radius circle about 35-43 feet from home plate,depending on the age. Softball pitching is much different than baseball, it is called the windmill. The windmill allows the ball to travel with an upward movement making it more difficult to hit, because the batter has to go against gravity. Since the ball already has an upward movement, from the release at the hip, a pitcher can throw a rise ball. A rise ball comes across the plate looking like a normal fast ball but brakes and shoots up out of the strike zone, making the batter swing for an easy strike. Pitching and locations of pitching is another reason that the sports are different, but the bats,balls, and rules can affect it as