Compare And Contrast Softball And Baseball

Softball and baseball. The sports of hitting the ball as far as you can and running like hell. These two sports appear so similar to strangers to the game, yet as you delve deeper into the muddy fields of the aspects of the two, they are entirely different. So how do you think of softball and baseball? Which one would you say is higher in difficulty? To many, softball is the girl-version of baseball and vice-versa. They may say there is absolutely no difference except the larger ball in softball and the overhand pitching in baseball. To others they may think “Oh, well softball uses the larger ball so it must be easier to hit the ball, thus it’s the easier sport.” Both the statements could make any softball player like myself cringe. These two statements could not be more wrong. By comparing the differences between softball and baseball, I will prove that softball is drastically more difficult than baseball because it is more fast paced.
First and foremost, the pace of the game in …show more content…
In softball, professionals use 11 inch softballs that are around 2 inches wider than a baseball. Because of the larger size this also means the softball is thus heavier than a baseball. Along with this, the average professional softball pitching speed is around 72 mph, which is 20 mph slower than baseball pitching. With this information in mind, some may think that because of the larger ball size and slower pitching it is less challenging to hit a softball compared to a baseball. Again, this is a common misunderstanding when comparing softball and baseball. Because of the incredibly small distance between the batter and the pitcher, it is extremely difficult to read and hit the ball even with a larger ball. Take it from me, i’ve been playing softball for 11 years and have experienced first hand how difficult it is to make contact with what appears to be a bright yellow cantaloupe visible from space. It is