Posted by: Jim (jwelborn@lexcominc.net) on Thu Sep 22 22:11:32 2005

A batter swinging properly does not “swing up” on the ball in baseball or softball. To transfer maximum energy, the bat must swing on the plane of the pitch. The angle of the pitch plane descends more in baseball because of the elevation of the mound. The batter, assuming proper mechanics, must adjust the plane of the swinging bat to match that of the ball. The baseball swing therefore creates the illusion of swinging up (upper cutting) whereas the fastpitch softball swing appears to be flatter. Assuming correct mechanics, both in fact meet the ball in the same relationship.

In our area, high school softball pitchers who are competitive at the state level and are landing college scholarships, throw in the 58-64 range (fastball). The reaction time of a softball thrown 60 MPH from 40’ is the same as a baseball thrown 90.75 MPH from 60’6”. The better high school baseball pitchers throw in the low to mid 80’s and some land college scholarships. 90 is extremely rare. A baseball thrown 85 MPH from 60’6” creates the same reaction time as a softball thrown 56.2 MPH from 40’!

The only complicating factor for baseball is the fact that the faster pitch moves quicker through the batter’s contact zone. This would quickly create problems for any batter with poor swing mechanics (baseball or softball).