Softball is an oxymoron. There is nothing soft about an orange size hard ball being thrown from 43 feet away at speeds of 51mph.
Rob Neyer author of “The Softer They Come” says softball has to be considered as one of the hardest sports to play. The ball is thrown from 43 feet away. In baseball, the ball is thrown from 60 feet away. In softball, the pitch needs to throw underhand. The pitching is the thickest part right there. For those couple seconds before the ball is released from her hand, the pitcher can conceal the ball. This makes it harder for batters to realize that they need to swing. The average human reaction time according to Daniel A. Russell, Ph.D is 9.2 meters per seconds. That is not much time for the brain to realize it has to tell the arms to swing at the ball—especially if the pitcher is left handed and the batter is right handed or vice versa.
A pitch at 90 mph in baseball is about the same as a 70 mph pitch in softball. According to Neyer, softball and baseball do have a couple similarities. The some of the pitches used in softball are also used in baseball; rise ball, drop ball, curves, and fastball of course. All of those pitches are similar to those thrown in baseball except for the fact they are thrown underhand.
The US Softball Olympic Team has won three gold medals. Neyer makes a good point explaining how softball pitching is more “effective” on account of there winning records and phenomenal pitchers. He raises the question about why not use this technique in the MLB. It is ironic because pitchers threw underhand until the rules of baseball were modified. The fastpitch form is also illegal according to the MLB.
Softball believe it or not was a big part of baseball. From the Olympics to MLB they have all had a part of softball in them. A softball is not soft or easy to hit.