View Full Version : Is it me or this stupid softball?
Knight353
06-04-2006, 12:40 PM
I play baseball of course for a team but today i had went with my friend who plays for a softball team and a few others to play some softball. When i was hitting i kept swinging and missing at that stupid big ball. I was frustrated cause how the hell can i hit a baseball coming at fast speed but i cant hit a stupid big softball.
I hit the softball a couple times but i didnt hit anywhere that far. Im starting to think im gonna have to start hitting the cages cause i couldnt believe my performance. I was playing with a friend who plays for another team and i was making my self look so bad by swinging and missing but my fielding is perfect.
I play Right Field for my team and pitcher. Any one know why the heck i was swinging and missing? I remember during my tryouts like 3 months ago one of my coaches was telling me im letting go of all my power because as soon as i hit the ball i let go off the bat with my right hand.
fungo22
06-04-2006, 02:09 PM
Fastpitch stupid softball or slowpitch stupid softball?
I play baseball of course for a team but today i had went with my friend who plays for a softball team and a few others to play some softball. When i was hitting i kept swinging and missing at that stupid big ball. I was frustrated cause how the hell can i hit a baseball coming at fast speed but i cant hit a stupid big softball.
I hit the softball a couple times but i didnt hit anywhere that far. Im starting to think im gonna have to start hitting the cages cause i couldnt believe my performance. I was playing with a friend who plays for another team and i was making my self look so bad by swinging and missing but my fielding is perfect.
I play Right Field for my team and pitcher. Any one know why the heck i was swinging and missing? I remember during my tryouts like 3 months ago one of my coaches was telling me im letting go of all my power because as soon as i hit the ball i let go off the bat with my right hand.
If I had to take a guess, I would bet it was due to the difference in pitch trajectory and speed.
Knight353
06-04-2006, 04:45 PM
It wasnt that fast, we were jus tryna field pop ups and grounders. It wasnt more than 20 mph.
ssarge
06-05-2006, 02:42 PM
Probably about 23-24mph if it was slowpitch.
Untill you get used to it, it is extremely difficult to hit a ball squarely that is descending at a sharp angle. The brain just isn't wired well for it. Nyman once quoted an interesting article about this topic. Basically, the conclusion was that a coach-pitch to a young kid where the ball is lobbed in and sinks sharply does the kid a disservice over throwing it a little flatter and faster. Trying to help, by throwing slower, but actually hurting.
A couple of weeks of practice should be all it will take you to hit the SP trajectory. Optimal mechanics in the sport are a little different though. It isn't an accident that the guys at the top of the SP pyramid generate up to 120mph of bat speed (quite a bit more than an MLB hitter), and hit softballs up to 500 feet. The extra time permitted by the 24mph pitch lets them do some things mechanically that an MLB hitter would never have the time for.