For those analyzing BB swings for a reference to hit in FP

[Bobby Shirer]

The baseball with the exception of the ephus pitch is always going down right out of the hand. In Softball not so. Tell Ted Williams that he is mistaken when he took 46 pitches off of Joan Joyce and had 2 pop-ups in the infield essentially between the catcher and pitcher, and 2 foul balls. Tell Barry Bonds he was doing all wrong against Jenny Finch. You can add Michelle Smith and Lisa Fernandez to the group that had never given up one pitch to solid contact. That isn't even a great men's pitcher!

Has there ever been any fast pitch pro, male or female, step into the box against any pro baseball pitcher, much less an elite one? Bet those MLB guys would make her/him look bad.
Love to see em face Randy Johnson, or Glavine, Maddux, or Pedro, Nolan, Wakefield, ...the list goes on....

 

[Bobby Shirer]

Tell us your experience hitting fastpitch.

Same as Bonds, Pujols, Williams...none, zero, zilch. Ive hit softball pitching machines and vicariously through the kids I've coached though.
What's your experience hitting in the major league?

 

[Bullseye]

Has there ever been any fast pitch pro, male or female, step into the box against any pro baseball pitcher, much less an elite one? Bet those MLB guys would make her/him look bad.
Love to see em face Randy Johnson, or Glavine, Maddux, or Pedro, Nolan, Wakefield, ...the list goes on....

Fairly typical to respond with a misdirecting reply rather than answer the question.
Softball hitters need to hit underhand pitching.

The baseball with the exception of the ephus pitch is always going down right out of the hand. In Softball not so. Tell Ted Williams that he is mistaken when he took 46 pitches off of Joan Joyce and had 2 pop-ups in the infield essentially between the catcher and pitcher, and 2 foul balls. Tell Barry Bonds he was doing all wrong against Jenny Finch. You can add Michelle Smith and Lisa Fernandez to the group that had never given up one pitch to solid contact. That isn't even a great men's pitcher!

Go try and hit off this pitcher then tell us what adjustments you had to make.

 

[Mudders Brudder]

I have no dog in this fight, as I've never stepped in the box against a good FP pitcher...but all I can say is "DANG!! "...Garcia, Escobar, and anyone else that can make a pitch "rise" like that look almost unhittable.

Hat's off to those who can, and at that level of expertise...I'd much rather take my chances against a Ryan, Johnson, or Chapman...than I would a Garcia, Escobar, or the like. Impressive for sure.

 

[BigSkyHi]

The same hitting adjustment argument could be made regarding hitting a baseball fastball vs curveball. The fastball doesn't break downward nearly as much as the curveball. And the curveball must be thrown at a more positive release angle than the fastball release angle.
So are the swings different? Yes, because the path of the ball is different so to stay on the path, adjustments must be made.
But the same can be said about any pitch, baseball or softball, FP or SP.....
you can't use a down and away swing path and expect to hit a high-n-tight pitch. Experience is a plus. The only reason the MLB guys can't hit Jennie Finch is lack of experience predicting where her pitch will end up.
Otherwise, the swings are the same.

If there are 10 or so different hitting models and two different hitting tempos, what adjustment(s) does a hitter make to hit different pitches? The answer should be one.

 

[Bobby Shirer]

Fairly typical to respond with a misdirecting reply rather than answer the question.
Softball hitters need to hit underhand pitching.




Go try and hit off this pitcher then tell us what adjustments you had to make.

Misdirecting reply? What does my softball hitting experience have to do with the point I made?
What's so fairly typical about the response?
The response was directed at the question....What's the difference between the swings and why can't MLB guys hit fastpitch? Same reason why fastpitch players can't hit MLB pitching.....
Answer: lack of experience. The swings are the same.

Now let's talk about your "typical response", the personal attack rather than discuss the subject?
Why can you ask about my experience but yours is off limits? Hmmmm?

 

[radness]

Has there ever been any fast pitch pro, male or female, step into the box against any pro baseball pitcher, much less an elite one? Bet those MLB guys would make her/him look bad.
Love to see em face Randy Johnson, or Glavine, Maddux, or Pedro, Nolan, Wakefield, ...the list goes on....

I will nibble at this
Would have luved the opportunity to hit off faster better bb pitching when i had the opportunity to play in womans pro bb league.

At batting practice those
90 mph bb pitches from the minor league baseball guys was like waiting for a bus.
Wait for it......
Wait for it......
( yeah they had men throw bp to us curves, sliders, off speed, and fastballs, looked like they got frustrated...)



Which reminds me~
Reaction times are different between the sports also !!!
Less reaction time in FP from when pitcher releases the pitch!

Hmmm maybe thats another post?!!!!

Glad to read Bobby S. you see the importance of making adjustments!

 

[FP26]

Reaction time is a piece that many do not take into consideration when discussing the differences.

 

[Towny9]

I hit off of our college softball pitchers several times and had quite a bit of success. It looked like a bright yellow beach ball coming in and the bat was way lighter and had a much bigger barrel.

point being anecdotal evidence means nothing. They are two different sports. If you are a baseball guy you will always be seen as a baseball guy by “softball” people. Been that way forever.

hitting is hard - let’s leave it at that and move on

 

[Bullseye]

Misdirecting reply? What does my softball hitting experience have to do with the point I made?
What's so fairly typical about the response?
The response was directed at the question....What's the difference between the swings and why can't MLB guys hit fastpitch? Same reason why fastpitch players can't hit MLB pitching.....
Answer: lack of experience. The swings are the same.

Now let's talk about your "typical response", the personal attack rather than discuss the subject?
Why can you ask about my experience but yours is off limits? Hmmmm?

Have experienced people teaching hitting without being able to explain what to look for. Have the experience to know being able to read and react to pitches is part of hitting. Finding a hitting coach being able to relay softball feedback from their hands on experience is valuable information.
As mentioned about baseball people. Dont care where you got your experience from. As long as you understand and can teach reading underhand pitching.