.44 COR/ 400 Compression vs. .47 COR/ 375 Compression

[CrazyDad]

Delete

Test --- Delete

 

[quincy]

"Through lab research and field testing, ASA has learned that a change from a .47/525 ball to a .44/375 ball will decrease overall bat and ball performance on the field by approximately 5-6%. ASA has also learned that reductions in softball compression can have a greater effect than reductions in COR in decreasing overall bat and ball performance in the field."

I would not think you would see a noticable difference between 400 and 375.

 

[MTR]

From the NCAA on changing the ball. College is currently .47/350.
"the committee is asking teams to experiment using a softball model that has .52 coefficient of restitution/300 compression. ... The new model ball is less temperature sensitive and has a lower severity index when striking a player than the .47 COR/350 compression softballs used currently."

This is where the world is heading. Last year, ASA approved the 52/300 ball for SP play. At the 2010 ASA Nat Council Meeting, I had a conversation with an NCAA rep who stated that the NCAA was going to look into the 52/300 as a possibility and I believe it was last spring where they alloted funds to test this ball.

This ball would almost eliminate the need for a good portion of the non-approved bats and at the same time make the game safer while just as enjoyable.

The one of the first issues with the development of this ball was to counteract the effects of altering a bat. The ball will still travel as far if hit properly. One of the stories which has been repeated to get this point across to the SP players is one of a TeamUSA (sp) member (Brian Wegman) in Cincinatti for a tournament pulled out a wood softball bat and hit a 52/300 over the lights beyond a 300' fence. Meanwhile, when playing tournaments using these balls, TeamUSA and the other major team members actually put away the newer manufactured bats and pull out some of the older bats, including metal, simply because the ball responds to those bats better.

This year during the ASA meeting, the Seniors wanted an exemption to the non-approved bat list and one of the suggestion was to allow for such an exemption ONLY if they used the 52/300. A couple At Large Athlete reps including Combat Sport's Don Cooper in the ETCC meeting immediately responded that this would not make a difference in the game. The hotter previously non-approved bats would actually carry this ball faster than the newer ones.

I think the 52/300 may be the ONLY ball permitted in SP in 2013 and the non-approved bat list will either disappear or be seriously reduced for the SP game. However, I do not see that happening in the FP game unless they move to this ball. The problem this will create will be that there may now be TWO non-approved lists AND a bat which is good for SP may not be used in the FP game which may make purchasing a new bat that much more stressful

 

[KCPRK]

Reading the 2014 plans at the ASA National Convention right now (2013) and it says they plan to use a 52/300 for womens slow and fastpitch 2014.