Baseball vs. Softball Swings - Any differences?

[FastpitchFan]

Some people believe there is a difference; others don't.

My take - most of the same principles apply. Differences might be in the adjustsments if there is any...

Softball - less reaction time; ball can go up or down; ball thrown from low (about knee high and not on a mound)

Baseball - more reaction time; ball can only go does; ball thrown from very high (overhead and from a mound)

Is it enough to have different swings for baseball and softball? If so, what are those differences?

Here is another question:

Should female have a different swing than males considering the difference in upper body strength?

Marc

 

[Mark H]

Ball doesn't go up through the zone, reaction time is about the same, angle through the zone difference is negligible, closing speed is higher in baseball creating a greater timing problem, quicker delivery from start of the pitching motion means a shorter momentum development pattern for the hitters, fences aren't that far in fp, hotter lighter bats, fewer females with good swings (compare CWS with WCWS-some WCWS teams compare well-others not so much)(I do think the pitchers are more highly skilled on average in the female game), short base paths create opportunities for speedsters to a greater extent than in baseball and, the swings should be the same. If anything the females should be less army than males.

 

[Slapper23]

Mark,

Dang! We are positively in agreement here. Excellent post!

Mike

 

[Mark H]

LOL Getting scary.

 

[ang4yanks]

Ball doesn't go up through the zone, reaction time is about the same, angle through the zone difference is negligible, closing speed is higher in baseball creating a greater timing problem, quicker delivery from start of the pitching motion means a shorter momentum development pattern for the hitters, fences aren't that far in fp, hotter lighter bats, fewer females with good swings (compare CWS with WCWS-some WCWS teams compare well-others not so much)(I do think the pitchers are more highly skilled on average in the female game), short base paths create opportunities for speedsters to a greater extent than in baseball and, the swings should be the same. If anything the females should be less army than males.

Mark...

Phew! Most folks would need a chapter to say that. From now on, if this question comes up again, we'll just refer them here

Ang

 

[Mark H]

Yeah rereading it maybe I should have taken a breath somewhere in there.

 

[ArmWhip]

One thing that gets overlooked when comparing baseball and softball is the weight of the bat in comparison the weight of the ball. The baseball bat is significantly heavier than the fastpitch softball bat and a softball is much heavier than a baseball. So in baseball we have a heavy bat and light ball, in softball we have a light bat and a heavy ball. This means that it is much easier to whip the bat into the ball in softball, however this also means that the effective sweet spot on the bat is much smaller. In softball because of the smaller sweet spot you must be more precise when hitting inside and outside pitches, there is less margin for error.

 

[bigdaddy]

Whip,

Interesting, I always thought the sweet spot in a fastpitch bat was considerably larger.

To me...the real difference in hitting between the sports lies in the field dimensions. Some FP hitters can make a living hitting balls that don't get out of the infield. That doesn't work on 90ft. bases.

If you can make contact in FP you can be effective. In BB, you need to be able to drive the ball.

Keith

 

[Mark H]

Yeah, the 60' bases change everything.

 

[Jerilyn]

I like to think that fp hitters have a more compact swing. Using more core and lower body. In bb the big stride and not just driving the ball but swinging for the fence. My parents and I agree that if just one team went for base hits instead of the fence that team would excede the other teams offensively.

As bigdaddy said,it's in the size of the field. Smaller ball, thirty more feet, same amount of players, and a bigger field. There seems to be alot more field for some infield hits, one would think.

Just my thought.

Oh. Yes I have watched may bb games from tball to majors. Two sons, two older brothers and my father, who pitched in school and was going into the minors but joined the minors instead. His catcher was Johnny Bench.