Atlanta, 27 July 1996. Australia v. USA. Natalie Ward (AUS) and Djonna Harris (USA). Credit: Getty Images/Jed Jacobsohn

There is little soft about Olympic softball. One pitch at Atlanta was clocked at 118 kilometres per hour (73.3 mph). Considering the pitcher stands 13.1 metres (43 feet) from the batter, and the hardest-throwing baseball pitchers throw 160 kilometres per hour (99.4 mph) from 18.4 metres (60 feet), softball batters have essentially the same time to react as their baseball counterparts.

In addition, a softball is as hard as a baseball. The only difference being the size; a softball is 30.4cm (12 inches) in circumference and a baseball is 22.8cm (9 inches).

Discipline's origin

Softball began in 1887 when George Hancock, a reporter for the Chicago Board of Trade, invented "indoor baseball". By the spring of 1888, the game had spread outdoors. It was originally called either mushball, kittenball or indoor baseball, but by the 1920s it had acquired the name of softball. The sport became organised in the United States in 1933 with the formation of the Amateur Softball Association of America (ASA). The sport was originally played by men and did not become popular with women until the formation of the ASA.

Softball spread slowly to the rest of the world with, perhaps, it biggest push coming from American servicemen playing and teaching the game on the far-flung fields of World War II. It was not until 1965 that the International Softball Federation (ISF) was formed. Author Karen Christensen, in Encyclopedia of World Sport, notes that softball spread to the United Kingdom because of an American movie. The movie, "A Touch of Class", was filmed in London and featured a softball game, which began to be played in England as a result.

Softball consists of several disciplines: fast pitch, slow pitch, and modified fast pitch. Fast pitch allows two main underhand pitching deliveries; one that involves an entire revolution and the other where the pitchers arm comes back and then forward. Slow pitch requires the pitcher to lob the ball underhanded with an arc that reaches a minimum height of 1.83 metres and a maximum height of 3.66 metres. A modified fast pitch allows underhand deliveries but the arm must not make a complete revolution around the shoulder socket. Internationally, fast pitch is the dominant game. In the United States, slow pitch is played by millions of people in recreational leagues.

World championships in fast pitch softball were first held in 1965 for women and 1966 for men. Slow-pitch world championships began in 1987, and the competition resumed in Florida (USA) in June of 2002. The first world competition for junior men and women was held in 1981 and a World Cup for age 16-under girls began in 2001.

Playing field

The playing field

a. Is the area within which the ball may be legally played and fielded.

b. Shall have a clear and unobstructed area within the minimum radius of:

1. 67.06 m (220 ft) for junior and women fast pitch; or

2. 76.20 m (250 ft) for junior and men fast pitch; or

3. 80.77m (265 ft) for junior women slow pitch

4. 83.82 m (275 ft) for women slow pitch; or

5. 83.82m (275 ft) for Co-ed slow pitch, or

6. 91.44 m (300 ft) for men slow pitch

from home plate between the foul lines.

c. Shall have an unobstructed area of not less than 7.62m (25 ft), nor more than 9.14m (30 ft) in width, outside the foul lines and between home plate and the backstop.

d. Should have a warning track. If a warning track is used, it shall be:

1. An area within the playing field and adjacent to any permanent fence along the outfield and side boundaries.

2. A minimum of 3.65m (12 ft) to a maximum of 4.57m (15 ft) from the outfield and/or side fences.

3. Made of material (dirt, gravel) that is level with, but different from, the playing surface. The material must distinguish itself from the outfield surface, and signals players when they are approaching the fence.

Rules

A regulation game shall consist of seven innings.

a. A full seven innings need not be played if the team second at bat scores more runs in six innings or before the third out in the last of the seventh inning.

b. A game that is tied at the end of seven innings shall be continued by playing additional innings, or until one side has scored more runs than the other at the end of a complete inning, or until the team second at bat has scored more runs in