A common debate in our culture is the ongoing question of women?s capability vs., men?s. In the realm of sports this debate is no exception. Anyone who is or knows an athlete has probably heard all kinds of arguments and smack about which sex is more of an ?athlete.? The topic of Women?s Fast pitch Softball is no exception. As softball players we constantly hear smack from baseball players about how softball is easy. They point out the root ?soft? in softball and the fact that the ball is the size of a grapefruit and that we?re ?just girls.? We would like to shed some light on the truth behind this sport; the truth behind the ?soft? in softball.
The game was first played indoors, by male members of a Boston boat club, on Thanksgiving Day in 1887 as a post-game celebration of the Harvard vs. Yale football game that had been played that day.? The players made a smaller diamond to fit inside used a boxing glove that had been tightened as a ball, and used a broomstick for a bat.? One of the men there later formalized the game with official rules, a large soft ball, and bats with a rubber end and called in indoor baseball.? The game became a way for baseball players to keep in shape in the winter. Later, firemen moved it outdoors as a way to stay active.? The firemen would only play seven innings in order to be able to complete an entire game in about an hour.? Spectators would come to watch these games until, in 1897, the first public league was formed.? Both men and women could play the game, which was unusual for many sports at that time.? The Denver YMCA finally gave the game its present name in 1926.? Since then, the sport has adapted to include universal rules and regulations.
A softball is twelve inches in diameter, but no longer includes any padding.? The bats vary in size, but are usually made of some sort of metal.? Unlike many of the original games, it is no longer wise to play barehanded.? The games are still seven innings to stay true to tradition and the diamond is sorter.? Unlike baseball, the pitching rubber is 43 feet from the plate instead of 60, and the bases are 60 feet instead of 90.? Both sexes still play the game, but that is typically only in slow pitch.? However, slow pitch is not recognized professionally of internationally.? That would be fast pitch, which is dominated by women and seen as the female counterpart of baseball.
??????????????? People tend to stereotype softball with the church league type of game, you know the game where 50 year old men and women in church leagues come out and pretend they know how to ?bring the heat? to the game of softball. That is not the game of softball we are referring to; Women?s Fast Pitch Softball is where the intensity happens. Any ?real? softball player will tell you there is nothing soft about this game, but still people try to argue that it?s easier than baseball. ?Many people have argued that hitting a 100 mph fastball is baseball is one of the hardest accomplishments of any sport.? We aren?t going to defend every sport, but we?d like to negate such assumptions against softball.? In fact, we will go as far to say that it is harder to hit a softball than to hit a baseball. We know that many baseball players will disagree, but have a look at some of the best hitters in baseball putting it to the test.
Still not convinced?? Well then here are the facts.? Softball players have a smaller field, but the ball does not travel any slower as it is hit to them.? Therefore, softball players have less time to react to a ball that is hit to them.? As for pitching, even though the ball moves slower of average, it has less distance to cover, so softball players have less reaction time yet again.? Also, the plane of a baseball pitch naturally drops, which makes it easier to make adjustments on pitches, because it is more natural to let gravity pull one?s hand down than for one to lift their hands.? That makes the rising plane of a softball pitch a rather tricky element of the game.? It is even harder when a pitcher actually throws a rise ball.? Finally, a softball carries more force on impact, because it is a larger mass. To illustrate this point please watch the following clip.
??????????????? We rest our case.
By Barbar and Nikkoahk Chitty
Source: http://sportsfiction.umwblogs.org/2011/09/15/women-in-sports-fast-pitch-softball/
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