https://en.wikipedia.

org/wiki/Softball

Softball

Highest governing body World Baseball Softball

Confederation

First played 1887; 135 years ago, United

States

Characteristics

Contact Limited

Team members 2 teams of 9–10

 Softball
Equipment
 Softball bat
 Softball glove
 Bases

Presence

Olympic 1996–2008, 2020

World Games 1981, 1985

Invitational: 2009–2013

Part of a series on the

History of baseball

 Origins
 Early years
 Knickerbocker Rules
 The Massachusetts Game
 Town ball
 Alexander Cartwright
 Doc Adams
 Doubleday myth
 First league
  First pro team
 First pro league
 All-American Girls Professional Baseball League
 Team nicknames

By country
 Nicaragua
 United States
 Other

International competitions
 World Baseball Softball Confederation
 World Baseball Classic
 Women's Baseball World Cup
 Africa Cup Baseball Championship
 Asian Baseball Championship
 Women's Baseball Asian Cup
 South American Baseball Championship
 Oceania Baseball Championship
 Baseball at the Pan American Games
 Summer Olympics (1992–2008, 2020–)
 Asian Games
 European Baseball Championship
 European Baseball Championship Women
 European Cup (baseball)
 WBSC Premier12
 Caribbean Series

Other topics
 Major League Baseball
 Minor League Baseball
 Negro league baseball
 Cuban League
 Nippon Professional Baseball
 Women in baseball
 Baseball color line
 Baseball (TV documentary series)
 Baseball Hall of Fame
 Society for American Baseball Research
 Baseball by year
  Major League Baseball seasons

Related games
 Softball 
o Comparison
 Baseball5
 British baseball
 Rounders
 Vintage base ball
 Wiffle ball
 Over-the-line
 Elle
 Tee-ball
 Corkball
 Fuzzball
 Indian Ball
 Stickball
 Vitilla
 Stoolball
 Old cat
 Cricket 
o Variations
o Comparison
 Danish longball
 Schlagball
 Bat and trap
 Brännboll
 Oină
 Pesäpallo
 Lapta
 Palant

Baseball portal

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 e

Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball (11 to 16 inches or 28 to 40 cm

circumference) on a field that has base lengths of 60 feet, a pitcher's mound that ranges from 35 to
43 feet away from home plate, and a home run fence that is 220–300 feet away from home plate,
depending on the type of softball being played.[1][2] Softball is played competitively at club levels, the
college level, and the professional level.
There are two rule sets for softball generally: slow pitch softball and fastpitch. Slow pitch softball is
commonly played recreationally, while women's fastpitch softball is a Summer Olympic sport and
is played professionally. Sixteen-inch softball, a variant of slow pitch, is less common but remains a
direct descendant of the original game created by George Hancock.
Softball rules vary somewhat from those of baseball. The game moves at a faster pace than
traditional baseball due to the field being smaller and the bases and the fielders being closer to
home plate. Softball is pitched underhand from flat ground, with fastpitch using a windmill arm
motion, while baseball is pitched overhand from a small hill called a mound, which changes the flight
of the pitch. Additionally, the entire infield of a softball diamond is dirt, without grass around the
mount.