15. ..... Baseball vs. Softball Hitting Debate
........Baseball vs. Fastpitch Softball (hitting) 
.............................By Tony Scoglio
Misinformation proliferates when coaches or instructors depend on experience and observation alone as their only method or source of teaching without the use of science and theory.
The fact is the universal laws of physics, applied to hitting mechanics, do not change because the balls are a little bigger or smaller. In truth, the trajectory of a fast-pitch softball is comparatively the same as that of a baseball. A softball is thrown from a shorter distance which makes the short, compact, inside-out swing particularly important, because of the shorter sighting distance of the ball.
The reaction time facing a sixty or seventy mph softball pitch is like facing a baseball thrown in the high 90’s to over 100 mph from 60 feet 6 inches. That’s faster than most Major League baseball pitchers throw. Remember, a softball is pitched from 35 to 43 feet depending on the league. Plus a braking softball will have upward movement and rise because of the pitcher’s underhand delivery.
There is a difference in the preparation and loading mechanism before the actual swing because of a softball pitcher’s ostensively explosive motion, unlike the comparatively unhurried, demonstrative windup of the baseball pitcher. (The pitcher’s motion dictates the hitter’s rhythm) This is easily transferred to a softball hitters timing mechanism, but there is no
discernible difference in the swing itself.
For information about instruction contact:
Tony Scoglio
Professional Instructor and program coordinator
Direct: (708) 990-9000,
Email: tscoglio@gmail.com
Website: http://tonyscoglio.blogspot.com/___________________________
STAR SPANGLE BANNER LYRICS
O! say can you see by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming,
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there;
O! say does that star-spangled banner yet wave,
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
STAR SPANGLE BANNER POEM
STAR SPANGLE BANNER POEM
.
O! say can you see by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming,
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there;
O! say does that star-spangled banner yet wave,
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
.
On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines in the stream:
'Tis the star-spangled banner, O! long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
.
And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion,
A home and a country should leave us no more?
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
.
O! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war's desolation.
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust."
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave![12]
.
.
In indignation over the start of the Civil War, Oliver Wendell Holmes[13] added a fifth stanza to the song in 1861 which appeared in songbooks of the era.[14]
.
When our land is illumined with liberty's smile,
If a foe from within strikes a blow at her glory,
Down, down with the traitor that tries to defile
The flag of the stars, and the page of her story!
By the millions unchained,
Who their birthright have gained
We will keep her bright blazon forever unstained;
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave,
While the land of the free is the home of the brave.
.
[edit] Alternative lyrics In a version hand-written by Francis Scott Key in 1840, the third line reads "Whose bright stars and broad stripes, through the clouds of the fight,".[15]
2 comments:
I am a baseball instructor, however I have been asked to give lessons on softball. I have been hesitant only because I do not want to give improper instruction about the softball swing. In my early research, I am finding out that the two swings are very similar. Are there any specifics about the baseball swing that I should NOT teach? Ae there any specifics in relation to mechanics unique to the softball that I need to teach?
Gerry
Coach Gerry,
Hesitate no longer. It sounds to me like your following the correct course. But I don't think the "swings" are just similar, the mechanics are identical. Just remember the pitchers release point changes the batters look at the ball and rise balls really do break up in softball. I'm going include with this a web address you should find beneficial: http://www.youtube.com/user/mmmistig The only thing I would change isn't worth mentioning. Good luck to you.
Tony
Post a Comment