Softball Study Guide

History

A reporter named George Hancock invented the game of Softball in Chicago in 1887.  It was first played as an indoor game.  Efforts to organize softball on a national basis didn't materialize until 1933. The first national softball tournament was played at the Chicago’s World Fair with 24 teams.  As of 2007, the Amateur Softball Association registered over 245,000 softball teams comprised of over 3.5 million players.
Fundamentals of Softball
The fundamentals of softball are the same as those of baseball. Batting and fielding strategy are similar, but softball is played on a much smaller area and a game is only seven innings long instead of nine innings. The pitching distance for women is 40 feet in high school and 43 feet in college. Bats for softball must be round, not more than 34 inches long, and not more than 2.25 inches in diameter at the largest part. The official softball is a smooth-seam ball 12 inches in circumference.
In softball, the pitch is delivered with an underhand motion whereas in baseball the pitch is thrown overhand or sidearm. Base stealing is permitted in both games, but in softball the runner must keep contact with the base until the pitcher releases the ball on delivery to the batter.      A popular variation of softball, called slow-pitch, is played with regulation equipment. The major differences between fast-pitch and slow-pitch are that slow-pitch is played with 10 members on a team and a pitched ball must be delivered at moderate speed with an arc of at least 6-10 feet in it’s flight toward the batter. Base stealing and bunting are not allowed in slow-pitch. Generally speaking slow-pitch is the most popular form of softball across the United States.        The object of the game is to score more runs than your opponent by advancing more runners around four bases.  Each team is given 7 innings in which to bat.

Basic Softball Rules

• There are 9 players on a fast pitch softball team, 10 on a slow-pitch team.
• The infield is made up of the following positions: 1st, 2nd, and 3rd bases, shortstop, pitcher and catcher.  
• The outfield positions are designated as left, right and center field. (Slow-pitch plays an extra outfielder usually called the short fielder).
• Any ball going outside the 1st or 3rd base line is a foul ball (runners can not advance and the batter gets another try unless the ball was caught in the air, which is an out).
• An official game is 7 innings. An inning is when both teams have had a turn to bat.
• All pitching must be done underhand.
• High school fast pitch pitchers pitch from a distance of 40’ from home plate.

Batting

• Batters should stand facing home plate.
• Hands should be together
• Keep your eye on the ball, watching it until the bat makes contact with it.
• Do not throw the bat.

A Batter is out when:

• three strikes have been called
• a fly ball is caught in either fair or foul territory
• the batter does not stand in the batter’s box while attempting to hit a pitch
• the batter is hit by her own batted ball in fair territory (outside of the batters box) before it is played by a fielder
• the batter hits a grounder and the ball is thrown to 1st base before the batter reaches first base.

Base Running (Slow pitch)

• Runners must touch each base in order.
• Runners may overrun 1st base only. At all other bases the runner may be tagged and called out if they are off the base.
• Runners cannot lead off a base. They must wait until the ball is hit or crosses home plate
• After a fly ball has been caught the base runner must tag the occupied base before advancing to the next base.
• One base runner cannot pass another base runner that is ahead of them.
• A runner is out if:
• they are tagged with the ball before reaching a base
• the ball gets to 1st base before the runner
• they run more than 3 feet out of the base line to avoid being tagged

TERMS:

• Ball- a legally pitched ball that does not enter the strike zone (four balls equals a walk).
• Count- this is the number of balls to the number of strikes the batter has during the time at bat. The number of balls is always given first by the umpire.
• Double Play- is a play by the defense in which two offensive players are legally put out as the result of a continuous action.

• Force out- is an out, which may be made when the runner has to advance to the next base to make room for the following base runner.
• Foul Ball- a legally batted ball hit outside of the baselines.  It counts as a strike on the batter until you get to two strikes.

• Grounder- A ball that is hit on the ground.
• Inning – a portion of the game consisting of a turn at bat for each team. The visiting team always bats first.
• On deck- the next batter.
• Pop up- ball hit up in the air to the infield.
• Strike- term used when a ball is swung at and missed or is called when the ball enters the strike zone and is not swung at all.
• Strike zone- the ball passes the batter over the plate between their armpits and knees.
• Umpire- person responsible for enforcing all rules of the game.
• Walk- the batter is awarded first base after the umpire calls four pitches balls. Other base runners advance if forced.