This myth has been going on for sometime now. People would argue what is harder to hit a softball or a baseball. Baseball seems 10x harder because of the size of the ball and the speed at which it travels but don’t be foold like the rest of us. The results are shocking, atleast to me. VIDEO->
That experiment is flawed. Put a softball batter up against a baseball pitcher, and see how many he/she can hit. Then I’ll be convinced.
Ya, I was going to say the same thing omureadhaigh. You can’t take a baseball player and first three pitches from a softbal player to determine which is harder. The batter never said it was harder, he just said the angle was odd.
I think they should re-do that episode.
I think I have to agree with you guys…
The test is flawed in a few areas.
First flaw, the softball hitting harder has no relevance of it being harder to hit.
Imagine this scenario with me. Say if you are trying to shoot a baseball that is thrown at you at 80mph with a hand gun versus trying to shoot an 18 wheeler truck coming at you at 30mph. I guarantee you that it is easier to shoot the 18 wheeler and I guarantee you that the force of the 18 wheeler will hit you harder than a baseball. Hitting harder has no relevance on easier or harder to hit.
Second flaw, the batter reaction time. What is shown is an accurate depiction of what happens if the ball travels at 95mph v 70 mph. The ratio of the distance of 60ft to 43ft is roughly 1.4, with the softball pitched at 70mpg it will arrive at the home plate the same time as a 98mph baseball. So I have to wonder, was this pitcher selected just to show ‘softball’ is harder? If the pitcher pitches at 98+ mph, there is less reaction time than the 70mph softball.
Third flaw, As omureadhaigh and ‘Me’ stated, it isn’t what the baseball batter is used to. A fair test would be set a pitching machine to pitch both balls at a specified speed going to the same path and have both a baseball batter and a softball batter tested on that. Rising versus the descending pitches are just technique of the pitch, it doesn’t pertain to the is it harder to hit a baseball or softball.
Yes, I agree with all the statements above. Flawedtest nailed it right on the head. And to think this was actually aired on TV.
In baseball there are over 7 different pitches a pitcher can through. In softball the is only 3 that i know
Thats like asking which is easier to catch? a football or a rugby ball. Two different balls… two different types of throws, usually.
I have to agree that the test is flawed. First off pressure equals force/area. Due to the surface area of a softball being biger than a baseball, a softball will apply a greater pressure over a bigger surface area. The rotational and translational energies also play a part. That is why the pressue plate broke for the softball and not the baseball. I am a softball Division 1 player, so my views may be bias. The reason a softball is harder to hit is that the movement occurs in more directions that a baseball. There is not riseball in baseball, but the movement can be similuated for all baseball pitches as compared to softball pitches. For the person who thinks there are only three pitches, there are more pitches than baseball.
heyy so heres my opinion. its harder to HIT a baseball because of its size, but when you do it it goes a lot farther than a softball. its harder to throw a softball because its so big and its harder to catch a soft ball because it can fall out the glove really easily because of its size. the base ball is small so it fits in the glove easier.
i agree with all of you guys. but i think its harder to hit a baseball then a softball due to the fact that a baseball is smaller for one things and another is that softballs weigh less
first off hahdk;ds just wanted to let you know that there are 6 different pitches in softball not only 3.
Baseballs are harder to hit and there are risers. If you put a baseball pitcher to a baseball batter they will hit very well. If you put a softball pitcher to a softball batter they will hit about the same. So switch hitters and pitchers and they will miss the first three.
there is no such thing as a rising fastball.
All of you are just jealous because you know it’s the truth. I can hit a baseball no problem and I play softball. Softballs are much harder to hit in the end and everyone knows it.
hmmm….submarine and it doesnt have to be a fastball….there is a such thing called a riseball
Well first of all Jennie Finch is one of the best pitchers in the WORLD. She won a gold medal with USA. Who the fuck is Adam Jordanson, Brian Burn?
A softball obviously contains more force due to it’s size. Bring in Albert Puhols to hit a regular softball pitcher, not a gold medalist and see what happens.
Plus, Softball batters may have a smaller bat, but they have a lighter bat. -8 ounces I believe? MLB players swing a -3 bat, so if you gave a baseball player a -8 bat, they would absolutely pick up on the ball and be able to come around faster…ect.
take the best highschool baseball pitcher and hitter and softball pitcher and hitter and make them pitch to each other and see which is harder
A softball pitch is harder to hit because it rises. That is fact. If you had a softball hitter against a baseball pitcher, she would most likely hit it.
Please note that this is in fact, as previously stated, a flawed experiment. This 7 minutes is part of a 30 minute special, so whoever published this video on their site is biased and didn’t show the rest of the clip. Don’t be scared though, at the end of the special baseball was proven harder to hit. This isn’t a complete experiment because they need to test both sides of the deal: Baseball player hitting a soft ball, and a softball player hitting a baseball. Thanks for taking the time to read this!
Oka, well just from being a pitcher and you are clearly clueless softball pitchers have just as many pitches as baseball.
Is there a proof that softball hitters can hit baseball pitches?? Reason this guy had problem hitting softball pitches was the ball rising. He is not used to that. As well as the angle the ball is coming from. I think this study would have been more accurate if they got the hitter to first become used to the softball pitch then compare the batting average. U can’t just get a guy who have been hitting baseball pitches his whole life and tell him to hit softballs. and also not doin a study of a softball hitter tryig to hit baseball pitches. And lastly she is THE best softball pitcher. Get Pujols to hit her balls. And reverse that and have the top softball hitter to hit baseball pitches thrown by the best. Not just fastballs.
I play softball and I can easily hit a 50mph baseball.
The size of the ball has nothing to do with how Hard it is to hit the ball or the size of the bat…. It’s the way you swing the bat and the angle it’s easier to drop then to rise your hands.
Okay put any soft ball player in the bat ans I bet they don’t hit the ball
They also don’t take into consideration a soft ball bat is longer and the ball is bigger.
Deep voice: Softball Softball Softball Softball!!!!!!!!!
Just want to note that the fastest baseball pitch ever was 105mph by Aroldis Chapman (from 60 feet). The fastest fastpitch ever thrown was 104mph by Eddie Feigner (46 feet).
So purely based on speed, the fastest against the fastest, softball is harder to hit. I don’t think you can compare the other junk (curve, rise, change, etc) cause the best batters of both sports (although would suck initially) would eventually be able to hit the other sport given some practice. This game is all about adjustments