Softball is an extracurricular activity that has been around for many years, and it first started with Slowpitch softball. Fastpitch softball did not come into existence until in recent years, and it has helped the spread of the sport of softball throughout the world. Even though the sport of softball is growing, there are many people who do not know about the sport. While both Fastpitch Softball and Slowpitch Softball contain similar characteristics, Slowpitch does differ in a few aspects. The way the ball comes from the pitcher, and base stealing are differences in the two, however, a similarity between the two is that both Slowpitch and Fastpitch can go to the professional level.
There are clear differences in Slowpitch Softball and Fastpitch Softball, and for instance, the way the ball is pitched is one that stands out to most people. For example, Fastpitch Softball pitchers throw in a windmill motion, but Slowpitch Softball pitchers toss
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the ball in a simple underhand motion as well as 6-12 feet of arch. The windmill motion for Fastpitch allows the pitcher to increase momentum, and that allows the ball to gain speeds of usually 50-60 miles per hour. With Slowpitch not having a windmill motion there is hardly any momentum gained, so that causes the pitcher to throw at slower speeds. The variances in the ball speed and pitcher’s motion can allow the hitter to make contact easier in Slowpitch, but in Fastpitch it takes hand eye coordination to achieve ball contact. Other major differences in Fastpitch and Slowpitch would be rules that allow base stealing and the amount of foul balls a batter can hit. In Fastpitch, a runner on base can step several feet off the base as soon as the pitcher releases the ball out of her hand, but Slowpitch base runners can only leave the base once the batter makes contact with the ball. Another difference would be Slowpitch batters can receive two foul balls in one at bat, but the third hit could be a foul tip, more commonly known as a foul out. On the other hand, a Fastpitch batter can foul off as many balls as needed, but the batter is only out if a swing is taken and missed as a third strike. These two differences are key concepts in the features of hitting and base running in Slowpitch and Fastpitch, therefore, they can affect the outcomes of certain strategies in a game. Even though there are differences in Slowpitch and Fastpitch, there are also a several similarities, and one similarity is that the players in both aspects of softball can achieve success at the professional level.
Most girls that attain success of competing at the professional level of Fastpitch softball get drafted from the university they attend, and then compete in the National Pro Fastpitch League against other professional teams around the world. The Slowpitch professional league is known as the American Professional Slowpitch Softball League, and most players achieve professional status in Slowpitch through competing in tournaments instead of playing for a university. In all sports, playing at a professional level is considered strenuous, but for the sport of softball to have a professional league in both Slowpitch and Fastpitch divisions is consider a prodigious accomplishment for the sport of softball. The achievement of playing at a professional level is one thing a player can cherish for the rest of their
lives. Fastpitch Softball and Slowpitch Softball is more than likely one of the most known sports in the modern world, and that is a remarkable accomplishment for the sport. There are differences in both aspects of Fastpitch and Slowpitch, but there are also similarities. Certain things help a person understand the differences from the way the motion the pitcher uses, to rules of base running and hitting. Even though there are clear distinctions in both Slowpitch and Fastpitch, one circumstance most people consider them similar, and the circumstance of similarity between both Slowpitch and Fastpitch softball remains playing at the professional level stays attainable. Fastpitch and Slowpitch Softball have the same fundamentals, but Fastpitch tends to be more competitive while Slowpitch is more recreational.
Hutch, the main character of The Big Field, has played baseball all of his life. He has always played shortstop, the same position that his father dreamed of playing as a professional. “Hutch, had always thought of himself as the captain of any infield he’d ever been a part of” (Lupica 1). Hutch finds himself being demoted to second base because there is another player, Darryl, on his new team that is expected to go pro and also plays shortstop. Hutch struggles because he does not want to play second base and his father does not support him because he does not want baseball to break Hutch’s dreams like it did his own. Hutch is betrayed by his father and Darryl when he finds them practicing together. Hutch has to learn to adjust and eventually becomes friends with Darryl, the up and coming shortstop. He understands that if he wants to win, then he needs to work together with Darryl. His father also comes around and finally gives Hutch his approval. Students should read this book in a high school English classroom because it demonstrates how relationships can be difficult, but teamwork can help to solve many issues.
La Mirada offered organized ball on a year-round basis. Jennie joined her first league, L’il Miss T-Ball, after her fifth birthday. She was one of those kids who excelled at a number of sports, but her greatest love was always for baseball. Bev and Doug soon began channeling this passion almost exclusively into girls’ softball. Their daughter had good hand-eye coordination and excellent speed. But it was her arm that opened the most eyes. During winter vacation in Iowa one year, she celebrated her first snowfall by packing a snowball and literally heaving it out of sight.
The big question for people who don’t play this question is really, what is softball? Softball is a little bit more modified version of baseball but softball is played on a smaller field,with a larger ball, played with 7 innings instead of 9 and with underarm pitch in a circular motion. Now that we know what the basic part of softball is let’s talk about the equipment. The equipment used to play softball is a bat about waist level give or
Though the practices performed within softball literacy do not immediately seem as if they should be considered a literacy practice, according to two of the six propositions about the nature of literacy, it is. Not only does it involve the physical performance from a play, but also includes formal writings, new rules and regulations, and offer different rules in different countries. I think softball should be counted as a literacy practice because it appeals to Barton and Hamilton’s propositions and includes artifacts that make it a community and artifacts that provide the players with essential people skills.
The International Softball Federation was founded in 1952 to govern International competition. “The Championships in 1965 developed women’s softball by making it an international game a step towards the Pan American Games and the Olympics (World Book).” Eleven years later, women softball players were given the closest equivalent to Major League Baseball with the 1976 formation of the International Women’s Professional Softball League. The contracts of the players ranged from $1,000-$3,000 per year.
While the games of baseball and softball each have many fans, many players prefer to play one or the other but not both. Although baseball and softball are similar in many ways, they have some notable differences. The pace with which each game is played, the rules of each, and the level of leagues are different for each.
Over the past fifteen to twenty years women's fastpitch softball popularity has continued to grow and spread internationally. By the mid-1990s it was played in more than 85 countries under the eye of the International Softball Federation (ISF). It has become increasingly popular among women at the youth and collegiate levels. More than 630 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) member institutions sponsor women's softball programs, and national championships for women are held in all three NCAA sports divisions (Encarta, 1998). In 1991 women's fastpitch softball was selected to debut as a medal sport in the 1996 Olympic Summer Games in Columbia, Georgia. The U.S. won the gold medal in the 1996 Olympic Games due to a good defense and great hitters on the team. Even though defense and pitching are critical and vital parts of the game, a successful team must have an effective offense to win the game. Among all the standout hitters on the U.S. Olympic team, two of the best are Dot Richardson and Lisa Fernadez. Both Lisa and Dot have picture-perfect swings, which have made them very productive throughout their careers. Today there is a women's professional fastpitch softball league. Interest in the Women's Professional Softball League (WPSL) has been increasing for the last three years and continues to grow each year.
Baseball is not a difficult game to comprehend, but it can a very long time to achieve a high level of performance. Usually one starts playing this game at a very young age and the first thing they start out with is throwing. Throwing a baseball involves exploiting all major muscle groups in the body to generate a large torque on the arm that will in turn create a high potential for speed when it is released.
Now if you're anything like me, you know that when you start a sport for the first time. You have questions like my first question, “what in the world is softball”. Well now that I am a”softball”player I can tell you all there is to know about softball. Softball is a game between two teams with two sections to the field in field and outfield. There is the pitcher, the catcher, 1st,2nd,and3rd baseman, shortstop, and left,right,and center field.
Texas Tech has proven that hitting a softball is way harder to hit than a baseball. A softball pitcher is very close to you at the pitcher's mound. If you are in the batter's box it feels like they are right on top of you especially since most softball pitchers can be up to about 6 feet in height. It is scientifically proven that a softball player has less time to react to the ball because of the distance and speed of the pitch. Also, softball pitchers not only throw hard, but they also throw tricky pitches to hit. The pitch that rises upwards is called a rise ball. When this pitch comes in, most coaches will say just let it go instead of risking this pitch. Baseball players throw breaking balls, but unlike in softball they don't suddenly leap up right as you're going to swing at it. Pitchers in softball can also throw a curve ball that curves away from the batter but still in the strike zone. A screw ball moves closer to the batter. Same as a curve ball it is still in the strike zone just right on the edge of it. Softball players throw many more change ups than in baseball. Change ups catch the player off guard causing them to swing and become frustrated with themselves. As you can tell softball pitchers don't mess around using every inch of the plate to pitch the ball and strike the batter
Both the boys school's treat the importance of the game of softball very differently. Mr. Galanter, the coach for Reuven's team, treats the game like war, and in turn his team does too. "No holes...what kind of solid defense is that? Close in. A battleship could go in between you and Malter..." (Potok, 14)
I have been playing softball ever since the tee ball days. It has been a sport that I have grown to love and couldn’t imagine not playing. The way I have grown up playing softball has changed tremendously from the time it was first created in 1887 on Thanksgiving Day. The first time this game was even thought of was when a group of excited men threw a boxing glove at another man who swung a broom trying to hit the boxing glove, like a bat hitting a ball. This group of men, who were all apart of the Farragut boat club, decided they would turn this into a game of their own and softball was born.
Women don’t receive the spotlight in sports very often. Usually, the men in baseball, football, basketball, and soccer have higher salaries and are paid attention to more. This wasn’t the case with a special league of female baseball players. These ladies sparked a thought in peoples’ heads in the mid 20th-century. Could women really play a professional sport instead of staying home to do the housework? From 1943-1954, women in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League helped to change the rights women were believed to have in society and in the workplace as they began playing a professional sport as a form of entertainment. Men, who would usually fulfill this role, were drafted into the military with the responsibility to serve during the war. The AAGPBL quickly became a world-winning group of women athletes and kept baseball and peoples' hopes alive during a time of weakness in American history.
As Paige and I walked across the field towards our team I felt euphoric. Four long years of work, sweat, and dedication had led up to this night. It was the perfect end to my senior year of softball. The scoreboard just beyond the mass of sweaty, screaming softball players read 15-0. This was the final score of the district championship game, a game my team had never won before. The applause and cheers of the fans echoed in my ears for hours afterward
Lesko, J. (2005). League History. All-American Girls Professional Baseball League Players Association. Retrieved for this paper Mar 20, 2014 from, http://www.aagpbl.org/index.cfm/pages/league/12/league-history