Softball in JAPAN informative read

[Shawn]

The

Looks like they practice more.

But are Olympic style events really the best way to measure the fact that they're "ahead of the US?" Maybe the US team just had bad coaching or didn't select the right players. Or the Japanese players have been playing together for a long time and have that experience playing together.

The US didn't even medal in the most recent Fiba world cup in basketball but no one would say American basketball players aren't the best.

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They don’t pitch and hit like us. They rotate the hips and take stop swings. Their hitters are not better. We have many, many great hitters who are not chosen to play on team USA.

 

[RADcatcher]

They don’t pitch and hit like us. They rotate the hips and take stop swings.

Great topics for discussion!

(As to hitting mechanics, could be said that once the bat has made contact with the ball that is the intended goal.)

Heres a game to refresh what the competition looks like. Lots of good plays in this one!


Have to be able to apply & defend different strategies.

 

[earlg3]

Watching the video, I don't think we can definitively rule out that the old school uniform is the reason.

 

[daywalkerdad]

Oklahoma swept the 4th place team in 3 games, scored 12 runs in 5 innings. Mexico gave up 13 runs in 6 games at the Olympics.

 

[Hillhouse]

I have never played in Japan, although I was asked several times in the 1990's. I didn't go for a several reasons. Also at one point, a team I was on was going to tour there but it fell through for some reason.

That said, it's hard to compare the softball systems between USA and Japan. And, speaking from a lot of experience here, if you guys don't think our USA team players aren't getting paid, you're very mistaken. Our players are funded by the USOC (US Olympic Committee). *** I'll add some info about the men's team funding (or lack of) below so I don't bore those who don't wanna read about that. Anyway, the USA players get a monthly payment from the USOC starting, I think, 2 years before the Olympics. The thinking is that due to training schedules and tours, the players would not be able to have a normal job. And there's a lot of truth to that. I know several of the players have the Realtor licenses, which allows more flexibility than many other things. The USOC also has the "Operation Gold" program. Every Gold medalist gets $25k, Silver gets $15 and Bronze gets $5K. There's a chance those amounts may have gone up, maybe I'll ask someone about that. Anyway, NPF and Athletes Unlimited call themselves "professional" but I don't think they pay very much. While AU seems to have a better following than NPF, I doubt they make enough money to live on. I know several people involved with the USSSA Pride team, and I think they pay better than most despite not having a league that they play in. It's almost like they are the softball version of Savanna Bananas, not because they're silly and the games are a joke. But because they don't play in a league but do almost exclusive exhibition games/events.

I think the biggest difference in USA/Japan is, there's more leagues for adult women to play. Over here, only a very few play in the UA or NPF. Some might go to Italy or other Euro countries but, again it wouldn't be a lot of them. So, Japan gets to select from a wider pool of players. Moreover, teams with great sponsors in Japan will hire our top pitchers to play there, giving all of the Japanese players plenty of opportunities to see those pitchers multiple times before international events. Osterman is about the only one who didn't While, it seems USA wins the WBSC World championships more than Japan, I know Japan doesn't always send their top team. On a few occasions they didn't bring Ueno, and didn't bring her on some of Japan's tours of North America: like some tourneys they'd do in OKC, Canada Cup, etc. **I have told the story before about Japan, Ueno, Mike Candrea, Men's FP players, and 2008 Olympics before. I will retell it if you want, but don't wanna make this longer by doing it here.

Anyway, our women's team is compensated pretty well. Probably better than many realize. It's just different because they aren't employed by sponsors of USA softball like Coke, McDonalds, and other USOC sponsors. @Shawn is absolutely right, sponsors used to employ men's players a lot. "Come play for me and you can have a great job, career. And, by playing for my softball team, there's no issues missing work for travel and softball related absences. " In the early 1990's a team from Sioux City IA was sponsored by Gateway computers. A few players were given jobs there. I was almost lured there circa 1996. I did take a sponsor's job in '95 when I played in SLC, UT. The sponsor of our team, Larry Miller, owned the pro sports teams (teamS, plural!), the Delta Center where the Jazz played games, along with about 15 car dealerships, and other companies in his empire. We had our team post-season party at a Jazz/Knicks game in Larry's suite.


*** I don't think the USOC still funds the USA men's team anymore. My last stint playing for the USA men's team was in 2000, in South Africa. We took 3rd place, and I think we got a $2500 bonus? I think we got $2k for going to South Africa. This is peanuts compared to the women's team's payments. And that's fine, the women's team deserves all they get because they are soooooo good, they win a lot, most of them really help the game, and all of them seem to enjoy interactivities with the kids who come to the games. But from a funding standpoint, the men's team is lucky if they can fund a single training camp before an international event. Not only that but, the male teams in USA softball (18u, 23u, and Men) all have coaches who sponsor the team. The team's coaches are dictated by who can fund the team, USA softball gives them almost nothing except uniforms and gear (which they are getting from sponsors anyway). It's incredibly sad and incredibly unfair. I'm not saying the men should get 50%. But requiring the head coach of the USA National team to also be it's sponsor is a very unfortunate thing.

 

[BillyB]

Just visually in games I have watched / Japanese training videos...I see less bulk and more flexability in Japan...I also see different approaches. Maybe I'm crazy

 

[tomorrow]

Deeper outfield fences and different softball densities could also be a major reason for the differences between College softball and International softball strategies.

 

[Rolling Hard]

Deeper outfield fences and different softball densities could also be a major reason for the differences between College softball and International softball strategies.

How deep? How dense? Oh, and how fast are the Japanese pitchers throwing? How many pitchers do they typically use per game?

 

[tomorrow]

How dense?

From the details, I was able to come up with the Cor (Coefficient of Restitution) value for the Japan Softball Association is .40 to .44 compared to .47 for the National Fastpitch Collegiate Association. From my minimal research based on these Cor values, this would result in a 6% to 14% reduction in distance.

 

[Rolling Hard]

From the details, I was able to come up with the Cor (Coefficient of Restitution) value for the Japan Softball Association is .40 to .44 compared to .47 for the National Fastpitch Collegiate Association. From my minimal research based on these Cor values, this would result in a 6% to 14% reduction in distance.

So they are like the PGF Diamond balls. LOL.