Fastpitch hitting - men vs. women

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Sep 17, 2009
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Is a men's fastpitch softball field bigger than a woman's field? How much bigger?

How much farther, if a significant difference, can a man vs. a woman hit a ball in fastpitch?

Same game, same ball, same bats (?), different physical make-up....

How are the hitting results (and the field) different?
 
Nov 18, 2015
1,585
113
Per USSSA rules, women’s fences should be 200-225. Men’s is 225-265. Which is still shorter than almost every slow pitch softball field (~280-300).

The few men’s games I’ve seen, very few balls are getting barreled up, so maybe Bill H. or other former players can attest to how far they actually travel.


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May 12, 2016
4,338
113
Is a men's fastpitch softball field bigger than a woman's field? How much bigger?

How much farther, if a significant difference, can a man vs. a woman hit a ball in fastpitch?

Same game, same ball, same bats (?), different physical make-up....

How are the hitting results (and the field) different?
I played men's fastpitch. The fields I played on were generally 230-250.

In my experience pitchers dominate the fastpitch field, very little gets barreled up. However you don't need a big powerful swing to hit one out, you literally just have to barrel it up ... the ball flies off the bat.

I used the old aluminum bats and "newish" worth composite .. Team bat in men's league was 34/26, when I was in high school the bats were the heavier aluminum. Couldn't believe in the men's league we were using a 26oz bat, but in my experience that was plenty heavy enough.

In the men's league which I played, the pitcher could hop. I think that's the biggest difference tbh

My experience was not high level ball.. however we did win the provincial(state for US folks) championship back in high school.

Hope this helps
 
Sep 17, 2009
1,637
83
Was having a *discussion* with someone who said a man could hit a fastpitch softball much farther than a woman, ie, that a 225 foot shot in a game by a female player wasn't a big deal. I could see a man hitting a fastpitch ball incrementally farther, but not significantly (ie, not out of a baseball park, for instance). That seems borne out by these comments. Tks.

Now slow-pitch, I think that's a different story from what I've seen of that game :)
 
May 12, 2016
4,338
113
Was having a *discussion* with someone who said a man could hit a fastpitch softball much farther than a woman, ie, that a 225 foot shot in a game by a female player wasn't a big deal. I could see a man hitting a fastpitch ball incrementally farther, but not significantly (ie, not out of a baseball park, for instance). That seems borne out by these comments. Tks.

Now slow-pitch, I think that's a different story from what I've seen of that game :)
I know the balls and bats are different in Slo Pitch vs Fastpitch.. but I am willing to bet that if all variables were the same with exception to pitch velocity, the harder pitched ball would fly further off the bat.

IMO a 225 ft shot in fastpitch is a big deal.. not in a tape measure sense, but just the fact you got barrel on ball. Depends how good the pitcher is I guess as well.

Now those on here who have claimed they've seen a 14 yo girl hit a ball 300 ft in the air, that's pretty phenomenal. :)
 
Nov 18, 2015
1,585
113
Ball compression always confuses me - some numbers are like 275 or 240, others are .42 or .-something. Does it make a difference b/w SP and FP? How different are the bats?

Never sure how to explain why being hit with a 12" ball in the shins hurts a hell of a lot more than a with a baseball, while baseballs go further when you hit them. The 12" ball sure seems a lot harder than the baseball?

Maybe the reason is similar to the HR Derby. Balls are routinely hit 450'+, and IIRC some years reach 500', against BP-speed pitching. But in a game, despite record #'s of HR's, I don't think any have reached 500' in the "Statcast Era", even with the added "force multiplier" of hitting a ball thrown 30mph harder.

There's plenty of recruiting and other highlight videos of girls putting ball after ball over the fence via front toss - I'm sure if you had a HR Derby at OU, you'd see plenty of balls landing around 240-250. Not unreasonable to think a high-level mens player wouldn't be able to put a few near the 300' mark. Maybe there's a use for bullet-spin fastballs after all? :)
 

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