SOFTBALL

Softball is a team sport, in which a ball, eleven to twelve inches (or rarely, 16 inches) (28 to 30.5 centimeters) in circumference, is thrown (pitched) underhand by a player called a pitcher and hit by an offensive player called a batter with a long, round, smooth stick called a bat (usually wooden, metal or composite). In softball there is an offensive team, the team that bats to attempt to score, and a defensive team, the team that occupies the field. Scoring is accomplished when a batter from the offensive team advances and touches a series of three raised markers on the ground called bases, and then touches the final base, called home plate.

There are many ways to get on base. Types of hits include full swing, bunt, drag bunt, and slap hits. A batter can get on base through a walk, or when hit by a pitch, but these situations are not hits. Runners can only leave their bases after the pitcher releases the ball. Both teams switch between offense and defense after the defensive team makes three outs. Outs can be made in many ways. A defensive player (a fielder) can catch a hit ball before it hits the ground, making an out. A fielder can also hold the ball while touching a base, when an offensive player (here, a base runner) is forced to advance, before the runner reaches that base. If the runner is not forced to advance, the runner must be tagged with the ball to be called out. A pitcher "strikes" out the batter, resulting in an out.

A strikeout is when the pitcher throws three strikes to the batter. A strike is given when there is a good pitch, which the batter does not hit, when the batter swings at the ball and misses it or when the batter fouls off the ball (although a foul ball cannot be strike three unless it is bunted). The batter is also given four balls. A ball is a bad pitch. If the batter receives four balls, the batter is awarded first base. This is known as a walk. Good and bad pitches are determined by the strikezone. The strike zone is a rectangular area that extends for the width of homeplate and the length runs from the knees of the batter to just below the shoulders.

Softball has a set number of innings, usually seven or nine. An inning is one series of both teams playing offense and defense. At the end of the set number of innings the team with the highest score wins. Softball is a direct descendant of baseball, which is sometimes referred to as hardball to distinguish it from softball, but differs from it in several ways. The International Softball Federation holds world championships, held every four years, in several categories. The ISF is the international governing body. The Amateur Softball Association is the National Governing Body of Softball for the United States pursuant to the 1976 Amateur Sports Act. Due to the popularity of the sport, there are a multitude of governing bodies such as the United States Specialty Sports Association and the National Softball Association.

Types of Softball
There are three general forms of softball: slow pitch, modified pitch and fast pitch.
1) Fast Pitch softball is a very pitcher-oriented game. The pitcher delivers the ball at maximum speed with little to no arc. The pitch is very similar to that of one thrown by a baseball pitcher, but the two differ primarily in their throwing styles and release points: most baseball pitchers release the ball from a point higher than the catcher's glove (overhand), whereas fast pitch softball pitchers release at a point that is lower than or equal to the height of the catcher's glove (underhand). Speeds of 70+ mph (110+ km/h) are common at the women's professional level. Due to the increased difficulty in hitting the larger, less dense ball, fast pitch softball games are typically played on much smaller fields than their slow pitch counterparts (typically 200 feet [61 metres] from home plate to the center field fence).

2) Modified Pitch softball strikes a balance between fast and slow pitch. The speed of the pitches are limited by not allowing the pitcher to raise their arms above their shoulders. 3) Slow Pitch softball gives batters more dominance by making it easier for them to hit the ball. The ball type in women's and youth competition is usually smaller and more dense than that of the fast pitch variety, making for a harder hit ball to the defense. This type of ball is often referred to as a "Green Dot", due to the green dot on the ball that marks its size range. Men's slow pitch ball type is very similar to that of the fast pitch ball type. Men's slow pitch softballs are often referred to as "Blue Dot", due to the blue dot on the ball that marks its size range. Typically, slow pitch softball fields are much larger (300 feet [90 metres] from home plate to center field) due to the slow pitch batter's increased advantage of range and power over their fast pitch counterparts. The increased hitting advantage to the batter combined with new technology in softball bat manufacturing has forced many softball leagues to impose rules on the number of over-the-fence home runs that may be counted during a game.

History
The first version of softball was invented in Chicago, Illinois on September 16, 1887 by George Hancock as a winter version of baseball. It was intended to be a way for baseball players to keep in practice during the winter. At the time, the sport was called "Indoor Baseball". Yale and Harvard alumni had gathered at the Farragut Boat Club in Chicago to hear the score of the annual football game. When the score was announced and bets were paid, a Yale alum threw a boxing glove at a Harvard supporter. The other person grabbed a stick and swung at it. Hancock called "Play ball!" and the game began. Hancock took a boxing glove and tied it into a ball. A broom handle was used as a bat. The first softball game ended with a score of 44-40. The ball, being soft, was fielded barehanded rather than with gloves like those which had been introduced to baseball in 1882. Hancock developed a ball and an undersized bat in the next week. The Farragut Club soon set rules for the game, which spread quickly to outsiders. The game, under the name of "IndoorOutdoor", was moved outside next year, and the first rules were published in 1889.

In 1895 Lewis Rober, Sr. of Minneapolis organized outdoor games as exercise for firefighters; this game was known as kitten ball (after the first team to play it), pumpkin ball, or diamond ball. Rober's version of the game used a ball 12 inches (305 mm) in circumference, rather than the 16-inch (406 mm) ball used by the Farragut club, and eventually the Minneapolis ball prevailed, although the dimensions of the Minneapolis diamond were passed over in favour of the dimensions of the Chicago one. Rober may not have been familiar with the Farragut Club rules. The first softball league outside the United States was organized in Toronto in 1897. The name softball dates from 1926. (In addition to indoor baseball, kitten ball, and diamond ball, names for the game included mush ball and pumpkin ball.) By the 1930s, similar sports with different rules and names were being played all over the United States and Canada. The formation of the Joint Rules Committee on Softball in 1934 standardized the rules and naming throughout the United States.

Sixteen-inch softball, also sometimes referred to as "mush ball" or "superslow pitch", is a direct descendant of Hancock's original game. Defensive players are not allowed to wear fielding gloves; however, a 16-inch softball is actually soft, and can be fielded safely with bare hands. Sixteeninch softball is played extensively in Chicago. By the 1940s, fast pitching started to dominate the game. Although slow pitch was present at the 1933 World's Fair, the main course of action taken was to lengthen the pitching distance. Slow pitch achieved formal recognition in 1953 when it was added to the program of the Amateur Softball Association, and within a decade had surpassed fast pitch in popularity. After World War II, Canadian soldiers introduced softball to the Netherlands. In 1939, softball was introduced to Australia.

Softball was introduced to the United Kingdom in 1962 when the movie A Touch of Class was being filmed in London. The first British women's softball league was established in 1983. In 1991, women's fast-pitch softball was selected to debut at the 1996 Summer Olympics. The 1996 Olympics also marked a key era in the introduction of technology in softball; the IOC funded a landmark biomechanical study on pitching during the games. In 2002, sixteen-inch slow pitch was written out of the ISF official rules, although it is still played extensively in the United States under Amateur Softball Association of America, or ASA rules. The 117th meeting of the International Olympic Committee, held in Singapore in July 2005, voted to drop softball and baseball as Olympic sports for the 2012 Summer Olympic Games. Other sanctioning bodies of softball are NSA[2], PONY[3], ASA[4], and USSSA[5].