FSN Sport Science - Episode 7 - Myths - Jennie Finch

Jennie Finch, Bryan Byrne, John Brenkus, Base Productions
Baseball vs. Softball - I know who I'm cheering for
BASE Productions

[@JohnDoe-mu3hq]

Honestly the only way to do a study like this scientifically would be to take an elite softball hitter and an elite baseball hitter, both in college preferably, and make them practice the other sport for a year with equal amount of practice time. At the end of the study they would both hit against the opposite sports pitching and it would truly indicate which sport is harder, as they had a chance to learn and practice.

[@layitonmenow]

Heard something about this on NPR about a book called the Sports Gene... A similar, if not the same "study", was cited... Basically, baseball players are used to hitting balls from baseball pitchers, so there are visual clues about the pitchers shoulders, etc., before the pitch is made that tell them where the ball is going... When the same players try to hit a softball pitch, all the clues they've come to learn intuitively are out the window.

[@adamsulpar6212]

They never tested a good softball hitter against a baseball pitched

[@adamsulpar6212]

Pitcher*

[@maxcowley4353]

Assuming they pitch from the same distance, there is no way for Jennie's pitch to have exerted more force or pressure on the plate than the Baseball player's. Jennie pitches at 112km/h (give or take a few decimals) while the baseball player pitches at 152km/h(give or take a few decimals). A baseball weighs approximately .14kg and a softball weighs approximately .18kg. Assuming a consistent deceleration time of 0.5 seconds, you can plug these numbers first into a=change in speed/change in time then into F=m*a. The first gives you an acceleration of 224000 m/s^2 for the softball and 304000 m/s^2 for the baseball. When those values are inserted into the second formula, you get a force of 40320 newtons required to stop the softball and a force of 42560 newtons required to stop the baseball. This is simply the force required to stop the balls respectively, it doesn't even account for the pressure advantage the baseball has over the softball given its smaller size and subsequently its smaller contact patch with the glass upon impact.

[@blondethunder8912]

I only understand have of this but I agree

[@rollinroby4920]

She also hit the side of the glass compared to the baseball player hitting the center, and she went second and used presumably the same glass board. Also having trained baseball players try to hit against baseball and softball pitching is a really bad way to make a test because they haven’t prepared for softballs the same way they have for baseball. Imagine if they put a softball hitter against the baseball pitcher, it wouldn’t be fair. They should be treated as two different sports with some things that are more difficult and some that are easier.

[@Gamingproish]

This was rigged from the beginning she is literally one of the best in the nation, and I want Aroldis Chapman in there throwing A 106mph fastball to a softball player to see if she can hit that.

[@roberttooth360]

My thoughts exactly. Great to do what she does.Baseball is pitched roughly 15 ft. Farther back is she throwing from 45 or 60 ft 6 inches

[@bezllama3325]

@@roberttooth360 Not only that but like champan she steps foward so many feet

[@metsfan12110]

How does the amount of force created effect how hard it is to hit the ball?

[@mirermichael]

It doesn;t

[@bisquik3006]

Broke the machine........alright. Lost me there. I was really thinking test was going to be legit.

[@juicenot2481]

Broke the machine so they would not have to measure the force

[@mirermichael]

Broke the machine in two after throwing multiple pitches and they showed a different, closer up pitch.

[@drgeisme]

Could you imagine if Sports Science took this (or any other) study to any respected science journal and wanted their research published. They would be laughed out of the place.

[@logandewulf2559]

Put jenney finch versus Giancarlo Stanton and chapman vs the best softball hitter

[@gsjdlawyer]

Hey Einstein! put Giancarlo Stanton vs. Adam Folkard (australian fastball pitcher, 85 mph 136.79 kmph in 43 feets) and se the most ridiculous strikeouts flurry in the largest history.

[@rohanshah4002]

Then give "Adam" a baseball cause he's a boy!

[@semperfi6060]

Wait... So this is trying to say that hitting a 70 mph Neon Watermelon is harder than a 95 mph baseball??????

[@alanajohnson5903]

That's what the video said dip shit

[@semperfi6060]

And guess what? Its complete BS...

[@alanajohnson5903]

I am fucking 22 and you can't tell me to watch what the fuck i say. At least I know that hitting a softball is way harder than hitting a fucking baseball.

[@semperfi6060]

How do you know that princess? Softball is a sorry exuse for Baseball. My opinion... Is that alright with you? Its called "SOFT- ball"... Jeez!!! 1. They wear masks when hitting and some when feilding. 2. They throw SLOW and UNDERHAND. 3. The feild is shrunk way down. 4. They fuckin sing when in the dugout It is not near as difficult as Baseball.

[@semperfi6060]

Uuhhh? The smaller ball would quite obviously make it harder to hit, see, catch, and pitch.... so, your argument is invalid.

[@biggoofybastard]

They didn't take in to account that although a softball gets to the batter quicker, it's at a slower speed so should be easier to track, and is much larger so should allow more room for error. Also softball players use alloy bats that are lighter, longer, and have larger sweet spots. But I think the point was to show fastpitch softball in a new light, and it definitely did for me.

[@hanlmoore]

Continued from first comment 3) In softball the bat is smaller than the ball so it's more likely to go foul but shorter base lengths to run 4) In baseball the ball is smaller therefore easier to hit it farther, but in softball there is a smaller field In my own personal experience, I have been around this these games and contraversy my whole life. I honestly think that they are equally as hard, and instead of fighting each other we need to be fighting to get them both back in the olympics

[@andreahicks6081]

Ah hell no. Softball is the sport, that's it. Boys play it too. Softball is closer and has a bigger ball. That's the freaken sport. Get over it all u haters

[@NoName-bh4pf]

The bigger ball only makes it easier to hit

[@TurtleyLiv]

I'm a softball player and yeah I can agree and disagree with this but i'm laughing at all the baseball players getting mad at this when it doesn't even matter because baseball is more popular for most people and is watched more by people. Why else do you think pro softball players get payed a lot less than a pro baseball player. Why are you guys taking this so offensively? I always get told baseball is harder and you don't see me getting all mad about it.

[@existencedefieslogic9658]

The reason could be that there appears to be an agenda on hand. So far I am seeing people being fairly critical of this biased video. In fact, nobody is getting mad.

[@inz1]

not to mention the fact that increased force effectively makes the sweet spot of the bat smaller as you're more likely to hit fowl with a thinner sweet spot.

[@loganlinney6942]

I'm starting to think of softball more and more as a charity event

[@briannorris7780]

What kind of ridiculous propaganda is this? I love baseball and softball, but this video is absurd. First of all, the force of the ball plays no role on how hard it is to hit. That was stupid, and of course, the much larger, heavier and harder softball broke the plate. Then you take a baseball player and have him try to hit against a top softball player, and because he can't, call that proof that it's harder to hit a softball? What kind of reasoning is that? He's never faced fastpitch softball pitching in his life! Bring in a professional softball player to hit against her and they would have no problem making contact. The key to which is harder to hit is in the stats. At the top level of each sport, hitters in baseball have lower batting averages than hitters in softball. With that said, I don't think there should be a distinction. Hitting a pitched ball is the hardest thing to do.

[@chrislogan2557]

Plus nobody mentioned the added nightmare of trying to hit a knuckleball in baseball. It has nothing to do with the force or speed it comes at you with, it's just like trying to hit a fly buzzing around the room with a newspaper and it making you look like an amateur whilst doing it.

[@kimberlyperschka7322]

Just because your male ego got hurt that’s no reason to down play Jenny’s accomplishment

[@briannorris7780]

@@kimberlyperschka7322 What part of what I said made you think my ego was hurt? What part of what I said is not true? Finch is a great player. I was merely pointing out the flawed logic used by the media to push the female athletic superiority myth. It's sad because women are amazing and don't need to be seen as athletically on par with men to have value.

[@DarkHeavenZ]

BeastLee10 , but how can you call this experiment a proven fact?. A baseball player hits baseballs everyday, and he has never tried softball, he is obviously no going to be used to softball, the experiment would have to take place on different way to be a proven fact. I'm not saying that softball is easy, but It wouldn't be a piece of cake to hit an Aroldis Chapman pitch. Is like to ask A basketball player to compete in soccer with a soccer player, wtf? thats not how you are supposed to do an experiment.

[@onlyone23km]

softball is the sister sport of baseball. And since women can't play in the MLB, their only alternative is pro softball. That being said, it's a fair deal.

[@DarkHeavenZ]

onlyone23km .. that has nothing to do with what I said.. still the MLB is far ahead of any Softball league… and we can also agree that woman should be allowed to pursuit a career in the MLB… if they are good enough

[@onlyone23km]

on the contrary, it has EVERYTHING to do with it.

[@togatrout4248]

onlyone23km no it doesnt.... Yuuto's point is that the two sports require a different skill set and training... Sure the sports are related, but this experiment shows where they differ the most. A baseball player is simply not used to hitting a softball (pitch). With that said, this experiment is bunk... since the two sports are so similar it does not do an accurate job of dismissing this myth (hitting a baseball is the hardest thing to do in sports)... something better to compare might be a boxer dodging a punch..,

[@onlyone23km]

let me ask you this: are women allowed in the MLB? No! And since they're not allowed, you have to either create a women's league, or a sister sport like softball so they can play. And since hitting a ball is the most difficult thing to do in sports, you also have to keep in mind that cricket shares a similar nature to the latter two sports.

[@elittle4515]

Way to bring in some pro baseball players. Jennie Finch is like the best pitcher in softball.

[@thesupersimons]

Nobody forget that spatial reasoning comes into play. All who said hitting the opposite ball would be harder is completely correct. Randy Johnson in 2004 would of blown softballers away.

[@nathanf1654]

The baseball player isn't used to underhand pitching. Only reason why he struggled. End of story.

[@kimberlyperschka7322]

You guys always have an e cause to protect your fragile male egos don’t you. End of story!

[@deadmaniac0472]

@@kimberlyperschka7322 ok, reverse the experiment. Let's see how she'll do against a pro pitcher

[@janabunny7]

LOL bring in a softball player and the baseball pitch will be "harder" to hit. it's not a question of difficulty, it's EXPERIENCE.

[@silverwolf9642]

Guys, if your going to compare and differ the 2 sports, you have to know the right facts. A lot of people argue, "softball is easier because the field Is smaller and the bases are closer together". That is true that the field is smaller, but what you don't realize is that the ball is heavier in mass and a softball bat is more light weighted than a baseball bat, so the big ball and small bat make up for the size of the field, because the small barrel bat doesn't allow the ball to go as far. And no, stealing is NOT easier in softball, because of the bases being closer together, that means the pitchers mound is still close to the other bases, so it's still just as easy for a softball pitcher to make an out as it is for a baseball pitcher. I'm a softball player, but I can also agree that baseball might be a bit tougher. But hey, both softball and baseball players are good at what they do and both work very hard.

[@aidenliebrecht7205]

2 problems with the hitter part of this, first off he’s been hitting baseballs pitched overhand for years and second off its unfair because he’s using a wooden bat while professional softball players use much lighter aluminum or composite bats.

[@redsoxrok34]

May I make a suggestion? Delete the word "science" from the title. I admit I'm not a "pure" scientist or anything, I'm an engineer. Your control variables are entirely different (which to your credit you do acknowledge). Aside from the distance-from-plate issue and relevant reflex times, you've left out the fact that the softball pitcher is allowed a running start, putting much more of the body's own momentum behind the pitch. I'll consider this a fair experiment when the softball pitcher throws from the same mound as the baseball pitcher and has to keep her foot on the rubber the whole time. Until then, this is about as scientifically valid as the Santa Claus Watch every 12/24. As a fan of the show I'm extremely disappointed in this crystal-clear attempt to suck up to the PC Nazis at the expense of real research.

[@danneufeldphoto]

But that's how a softball is pitched. They've tested two real world examples; baseball pitched like a baseball, and a softball pitched like a softball. Changing the distance for either pitch would give incorrect data.

[@redsoxrok34]

Dan Neufeld Except now you're comparing the rules governing the athletes, not the athletes themselves. Under your interpretation the fact that I can throw a pebble past any hitter from a couple meters away makes me the best pitcher in the world, yet no one's giving me a Clayton Kershaw-style deal. If you want to judge the athletes, make all the other variables the same. If you want to judge the difference in rules, the same hurler should be conducting both tests. When you mix them you cross your controls, therefore the experiment is scientifically invalid. If I made this level of error at work my boss would probably make me eat the datasheet and start over.

[@danneufeldphoto]

Without rewatching the video (ain't nobody got time for that), I don't think they are comparing pitchers, just the pitches. Is it easier to hit a softball (pitched like a softball), or a baseball (pitched like a baseball). And as far as a baseball player at the plate, they showed that the softball pitch is more difficult to hit. Changing the distance would render the test invalid, as the softball would not have been pitched as softballs are pitched. I do think that they failed in not showing a softball player trying to hit the baseball pitch though. If they couldn't hit it, then both types of pitches are equally hard to hit. Also, they should have had a seasoned MLB pitcher at the mound, as they had a high level softball pitcher.

[@michaelchristopher2003]

True this is just a feel good story for equality pepole it's kinda a joke

[@patrickmorgan4006]

@@danneufeldphoto No, they showed that it was harder for a baseball player to hit a softball pitcher than for him to hit a baseball pitcher. Why not put a softball hitter up against both and see which pitcher he or she finds tougher to hit? And while we are at it, let's use a male softball pitcher, who throws in the 90s. The fastest male pitchers have thrown over 100 mph, just as fast as MLB pitchers. It's just not a good comparison, not matter how you look at it. Not scientific at all.

[@charliemeacham4730]

lets be real hear you cant say foot balls harder than baseball because guess what sport he plays baseball not softball just like she doesn't play baseball thats like making a basketball player play foot ball its a different sport the sports have there similarity but so does cricket my point either they had to do it the right way with a soft ball hitter hitting a baseball pitch and vice verse or you cant test it

[@daryljones7223]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/lZXIZHuAq7RghJo

[@xJackieBx]

it doesn't matter who is batting, the conclusion is based solely on the fact that you have less reaction time with a softball and the angle of the softball's flight makes hitting it more difficult, because either you will need to lift your hands, or else start with your hands high and then adjust accordingly. you cant judge hitting difficulty based on who is batting because most likely either baseball or softball will have an advantage either way.

[@geetarkid12]

You may need to reread what I'm arguing... in the video they show that the hitter is struggling to make CONTACT with the ball. You're right in saying that you would need more force to make a softball travel the same distance as a hardball. However, we are talking about simply making CONTACT with the ball, where force is irrelevant and the bigger ball actually makes it easier. Understanding the arm angle of a softball is different and it is pitched from much closer which are the two valid pts.

[@logandewulf2559]

U can't compare the best softball pitcher to a no name minor league player... Put the best up against the best

[@JonahLoeb]

She once struck out Mike Piazza & Albert Pujols my dude

[@kimberlyperschka7322]

Just an. Excuse to protect your male ego.

[@abdullahassad3654]

@@kimberlyperschka7322 oh no!! The host was male! How dare you watch this

[@blondethunder8912]

@@kimberlyperschka7322 you are an idiot that can’t expect that things can be skewed

[@blondethunder8912]

Harsh but true

[@ashleyjourdan716]

I think it's kind of funny how guys talk so much crap about how softball's so much easier than baseball but once it's proven wrong they can't accept it..

[@digitaLbraVo]

Funny they didn't test a softball batter against a baseball pitcher, eh?

[@bballrocks7768]

Why not softball hitter against Arolis Chapman 100+ MPH fast ball plus the 92 mph slider

[@collinbrindley4517]

Sure Jenny finch may be good but this is the most biased video I’ve ever seen. Like other people said, why didn’t they put a softball hitter against the 90 mph fastball hmm? There is no way that they would even make contact. Softball is a joke except for college but even then it’s still cringey

[@2AForever-wi8yj]

You need to learn what the word PROVEN means little girl

[@kimberlyperschka7322]

digitaLbraVo my daughter played cool ball and hit off of the baseball pitcher throwing 95 in a friendly little pick up game

[@jamessellers9991]

At the beginning when she breaks the plate its more likely to have more force because F=ma as the mass of a softball is greater than a baseball therefore it will have a greater force if acceleration is common

[@gracep8646]

The force is totally relevant: the more force put behind an object, the more force needed to push the object in the opposite direction. Correct me if I'm wrong, though.

[@BladeTheBloody]

inaccurate they have to be the same distance throwing the same speed to determine which is harder to hit

[@Johnny-xj5qu]

I'd love to see a finely tuned fast pitch hitter go against a 95 mph overhand pitcher. this experiment is flawed because there is an undeniable truth here. It is harder for a baseball player to hit a fast pitch player than it is for them to hit a baseball off a baseball player. it's also harder for a fastpitch batter to hit off a baseball pitcher. 2 totally different distances and angles. oh, of course the ball has more force, it weighs like twice as much, and is coming from a shorter distance. all of that means zip if you hit it out in front of the plate. the mass of the softball makes it a bigger target too. this video does not prove or disprove anything, it's a flawed test.

[@darthtater3430]

+Johnny 34 i could not agree any more

[@hooviedoovie5220]

Hey hey hey hey hey, just because the glass broke on the softball doesn't mean that it hit with more force, first of all, she hit it in places where the plate can't flex when the baseball hit in the middle, second, the softball has more surface area and will allow a broader energy transfer and could be thrown with less force

[@CoachMikeNow]

Guess again. My daughter's former pitching coach said how she once struck out Tony Gywnn and Darryl Strawberry. She said if they had time to practice seeing the riseball then they would certainly adapt. But coming cold they don't stand a prayer. There's only one point of contact on a rise ball because of the angle of swing and pitch.

[@gregorubel1140]

Come on ... Not saying softball is easy but baseball is harder ... One ... Pitchers dont only throw fastballs... Guys throw curves,change ups, sliders,sinkers, split fingers, forkers and other pitches... Second... Softball parks are small and they dont even have to steal bases... Last... Chapman can take any softball player and play with them becausr they dont practice to hit a 100 mph ball or any 90 pitcher....

[@reidewasko4865]

OMG you are so wrong! Girls throw all the pitches men do!

[@reidewasko4865]

AND YES YOU DO STEAL BASES

[@danger170388]

Actually, a Riser is much harder to hit than a Sinker.

[@gracegumiela7488]

Oh I'm sorry, maybe you should actually research something before you assume that softball is easier than baseball. Us pitchers do throw fastballs as well as many other pitches. Know that facts before you open your mouth. Thank you

[@elliegarcia3091]

Um no..... Softball pitchers throw fastballs,changeups,off speed, curve balls, screwballs, riseballs, dropballs, and more! Yes, the field is smaller which makes it way harder to field balls! And get the out! Also, Watch some college softball, we do steal bases! That's the biggest part of the game,do you expect us not to freking know-it-all !

[@gordonkaufman6548]

stupid, softball may has less time to hit the ball but the ball is bigger. Its the same either way. If the softball was right down the middle like the 95 mph pitch, the batter will adjust and hit it. its getting used to the timing. softball is NOT harder to hit than baseball just as baseball is NOT harder. its the same

[@kookanator17]

Until you are personaly standing at the other end of a softball pitch, you don't see the difference. It compensates speed for distance changing reaction time. Not only is it hard to hit the ball, but to make a good solid contact is also harder because of 2 things. 1) The ball is not as dense as a baseball, making it travel less far. 2) you are hitting a larger ball with a smaller diameter bat, making you prone to pop-ups and scrap grounders. I've done both, I find softball more challenging.

[@mkeets]

@Newmaidumosa true but it would be to troublesome to find a video clip showing the speed out of the pitchers hand and the speed at the plate so i jus assumed they were both constant even tho i know thats wrong. i used this to show the difference in hitting the ball; the amount of time the ball is actually in the hitting zone is way shorter for a baseball player, say the hitting zone for the average person is 2ft you have .011sec for a baseball player and .02 sec for softball

[@hudsonritchie6622]

Any thing to make girls happy about their sports...

[@ImAlreadyDead1]

Lol, this is pretty dumb.

[@adalberogonzalez]

***** if you watch the extended video they say that hitting a baseball is way harder... a girls itch isn't fast she's just pitching it from a closer angle, if she would pitch it from 60 feet she wouldn't be able to make the ball reach cuzz she doesn't have the arm strength and he pitches wouldn't be accurate... Idk they didn't show the entire thing and then when they interviewed her she even said that the only reason that the glass broke cuzz the dude who pitch it first weakened the glass...

[@Axle1007]

***** I play fast pitch soft ball in the summer...and well I can knock them out of the park lol It took me a month to change my timing but once i did I hit way better than I do in baseball....I'm a pitcher so we are not very good hitters but a softball pitch was much easier for my team to hit..

[@roadrunnerblink]

***** Harder? Tell her to pitch from as far back as the men do and see what happens then. By the way i'm not trying to put her down but I had to respond to your comment. It's not about pride like you said, it's about physics and performing a fair test. I just hate seeing rigged tests like these :)

[@StreetPeter]

***** calm down, feminazi.

[@audreymccombs9542]

To those complaining that she is 17 feet closer to the plate - she's also pitching 25mph slower than the baseball pitcher. The video CLEARLY states that reaction times are essentially the same in both softball and baseball for that reason. If a player is used to timing his or her swing after 300 milliseconds, then s/he should have no problems with either a softball or a baseball. I suggest y'all read this: sportsillustrated.cnn.com/more/news/20130724/the-sports-gene-excerpt/#ixzz2ZzehZrlz

[@MrNick1125]

If you equal out the variables with the two balls, a tiny white ball versus a big bright yellow ball, the baseball is definitly harder to hit.

[@ianpeters5725]

I'd just like to point out, when they show the baseball player whiffing on the baseball, it isn't the best swing in the world. He stands up, and rolls over his front foot.

[@Bonez229]

The natural movement of a swing is up. All baseball pitches move from top to bottom; they require less effort to hit them off the ground. Basic physics if you do not believe me. Most softball pitches move from bottom to top (aside from curve and drop balls) which require the batter to aim for the middle of a rising ball. In addition, softball uses lighter, shorter bats (look up torque if you don't know why that's relevant) to hit a heavier, larger ball (which means more rotation as well.)

[@DoomShittingBeast]

and also the angle of which the ball travels (being more upwards directed, unlike in baseball where its more so from the over hand causing a downward angle) and the awkward (to baseball) release point.

[@rburnsiv]

@Jamerz011 Yeah, I realize that. There aren't too many of those in baseball now. Ichiro Suzuki is considered one of those. He only averages like around .330. I think it all comes down to what you're used to. If a major leaguer tried to hit a softball pitcher with no practice, he'd have trouble, and if a pro softball player tried to hit a major league pitcher, she'd have an equal amount of trouble with no practice.

[@thegreatcerebral]

Ok a couple of things here. First if you watch softball like that you know that a 'swing' for them is most often a 'slap' because of the fact they are hitting a heavier ball coming at them the shorter distance. Second they needed to have a softball hitter hit off the pitcher. Third he didn't use a softball bat to try to hit the softball (they are made different to produce faster bat speed). The bat he used may have been 29-30 oz. where a softball bat would have been ~26oz.

[@DoomShittingBeast]

or under the equalizers, we can move the pitchers mound from 43' (or 46') to 60'6", or vise versa, or just put it at the middle point. and lets see pitches other than fast balls during the tests, distributed among a variance of hitters and pitchers to get better stats.

[@Wowee2012]

I play softball and I can hit over hand and under hand pitches. Learning how to hit a softball pitch first definitely makes hitting everything else easier.

[@theindyone]

An objective science test would never leave out facts, such as the one you mentioned. Good point. The manginas don't understand the actual irritation that's actually being expressed here. It's not saying the females aren't good athletes; it's pointing out the obvious that there are limitations between the genders. Obviously, there's a reason why the rules in men and women sports, and the set-up, are totally different, like between the NBA and WNBA where the ball is lighter for the women.

[@Firecat719]

As for reality between the two sports. I am the daughter of a former pro basketball and baseball player - yeah, my father played both sports. When I was 9, my dad sued the city so I could play in baseball. I played baseball - and loved it - all my life. It wasn't until my late 20s, before I started playing softball. In batting cages, I would hit baseballs at 105mph. You must admit, I have some experience at hitting baseballs. Hitting fast-pitch softballs? MUCH MUCH tougher.

[@westhoff0407]

@GHsamlover (part 3) Finally, and I promise this is it: Jennie Finch is one of the best softball pitches ever. The baseball players are all scrubs (90 mph?? Weak). You need to bring in Ubaldo Jimenez or Roy Halladay if you want this to be a valid test, and have him throw against a minor league softballer. All I am saying is the test is invalid. I'm not arguing whether baseball or softball is harder, because the test doesn't answer the question! (also, I meant 5 7/8 oz for the softball not 5 78)

[@ArsonBeanTanks]

@M3ts27000 The fact that she's closer makes a softball pitch even harder to hit because you have much less reaction time. Also, the larger step also creates more force/speed, making it a more effective pitch.

[@JesusIzAPunkRocker]

idk if the guys who make sports science know what "science" means. Seriously, its a nice sentiment to show the intricacies of softball pitches and help people understand that hitting a softball is harder then it seems. But if you TRULY want to be scientific about it don't skew the results to make it seem as though softball is harder. The only true argument that I see here is that, to a baseball player, a softball is hard to hit. Duh. It would be hard for a softball player to hit a baseball.

[@2cgel]

notice jennie pitches closer so the fastballers pitch slows down first because he pitches farther but if he pitched 43 feet away it would be so much harder. BTW Jennie Finch only throws seventy mph

[@bryanmicksch731]

You said this in your own video. A baseball player is used to the ball coming at a downward angle so if course he would struggle at hitting it. It would be similar for a softball player trying to hit a baseball at 100+ mph.

[@blondethunder8912]

I thought he would say something about it

[@jerroldbacaltos6917]

my father played baseball @ his college and won championshipsss and shift to softball until now and continue dominant in dis sport.. it only need adjustment few games. he said:SOFTBALL is lil bit harder to HIT than baseball ...

[@AgentSmith027]

Baseball hitters are trained to swing at slightly upward angle to hit a ball thrown at a downward angle. This keeps the bat parallel to the baseball . When a fast pitch softball is thrown upwards, and the swing of the hitter is also upwards, the angles are almost perpendicular. This makes it almost impossible to hit a fast pitch softball with a baseball swing. This invalidates the test, as the hitter must behave completely different, depending on the scenario..

[@mkeets]

@Gymnast101XD hate to break it to you but when a pitcher seperates his hands to throw you lose the ball because its on the 2nd base side of the pitcher you cant see it again until the pitcher is right about to throw you dnt lse the softball you can still see it when theyre "windmilling"

[@happygil24]

The visual is really the only thing that makes a softball harder to hit for a baseball player.

[@jonorech]

@westhoff0407 Right on. They are right on the angle, but you are so right about comfort level...yes...and where is the softball hitter? Also, but the bb pitcher at 40' and see what's up.

[@YusefOtesh8880]

'You just uhh you just broke it" LMAO!!

[@softballrocks04]

@SplapMeDoooo if you take your foot completly off the rubber while still square it is.. if its off the ground high when she takes her stride out then it is unless her other foot is on the ground

[@JBuddy132]

I agree that a softball would be hard to hit for a baseball hitter after he has been playing for 17 years and he has not seen anything different. The other thing is the baseball pitcher hit the force plate dead center which allowed the glass to absorb the energy. Jenny hit the force place about an inch from the sensor. The glass had no room to absorb the impact which caused it to shatter. Im not saying baseball is harder but lets not forget. Baseball pitchers pitch from a softballs bases.

[@Alyssa-pv6ki]

Doesn’t the softball have more force because the ball is larger???

[@samanthacaron3764]

hitting the softball into the outfit might take more strength than in baseball because the softball weighs more and is bigger, but might be harder to focus on the ball in baseball

[@Kandy2470]

I play softball and my brother plays baseball. It's easier for me to hit a baseball and make it go farther because it is smaller. Its also easier to throw and catch because my body has to do less work than I would with a softball. My eyes on the other hand do have to work harder to see a baseball, so there's arguments for both. My brother and I never argue because we know there are different difficulties to both.

[@Bballbr0]

Also don't forget a softball bat has a long ass barrel, and is usually drop 8-13 as opposed to a drop 2 wood bat...

[@randyjsing]

I'm sure someone's already mentioned this, but...take a good women's softball hitter and try hitting a baseball pitched over 100 mph. Some have mentioned a ball is much easier to hit when it's falling down. What's the hardest ball to hit in the major leagues? A rising fast ball. While it's not the same angle as a rising fastball in softball, you must admit it's only fair to have a softball player try to hit a rising fastball from a mlb player throwing at or above 100 mph. Finch is impressive.

[@rburnsiv]

@Jamerz011 Also, there have been an number of underhand baseball pitchers over the years and most of them are decent, but usually only used in certain situations against certain batters (lefty vs. lefty i.e.). They aren't necessarily harder to hit because the ball goes up, it's just something they aren't used to seeing. That's the main issue. If players saw it all the time, they'd hit them all the time, because they rarely hit 85 on the gun. But they're few and far between.

[@mkeets]

@Gymnast101XD really cause it looks like the sofftball is on the 3rd base side of the pitcher lwhen theyre winddmilling so you can see it. but baseball ask any pitcher they break their hands the ball is down by their hip which is facing 2nd so you cant see the ball, they bring the ball up to a high cocked position where the ball is right behind the pitchers head so you cant see the ball, then he goes to throw even then the elbow leads so the ball is behind the elbow you still cant see the ball

[@redsoxrok34]

Agree 100%. She's 17 feet closer and has the benefit of a running start. Put Verlander 43 feet from the plate, Babe Ruth himself would have no chance. The only reason these 2 are even comparable is because softball fields and rules are much more pitcher-friendly. No disrespect intended to Jennie Finch, but put her on a mound 60'6'' from the plate with either a baseball or a softball (her choice) and Cabrera at the plate, let's measure the K/HR ratio. 1 thing tho, I wouldn't cite Braun.

[@allthingsmagic6613]

Another thing wrong w/ this test is the hitter isn't used to a softball pitcher also softballs r bigger and softball hitter have bigger barrels in the bat so saying that a softball is harder to hit then a baseball is not at all proven in this test

[@ericvanschaik2977]

Softball barrels arent nearly as big as baseball....

[@TheDarkMitzuki]

Ugh, these arguements are annoying me. All I will say is that I love fast pitch softball and all I care about is having fun and improving as much as I can with the sport. :)

[@Spazmonkey625]

Exactly, the only difference is that they come from a different angle and at a much higher velocity. Meaning you're probably not going to hit it.

[@Waffle___House]

Also maybe a baseball fastball might be easier to hit than a softball pitch, but any baseball player can hit a fastball if they know it's coming. I'm sure all the curves you can put on a baseball that you can't do in softball make a baseball much harder to hit.

[@1310beth]

@Feld61 baseball is smaller and heavier which means it is more dense which means it would naturally have MORE force than a softball. But i agree this wasnt exactly a fair test but I think there is no fair way to test it. They're just two different sports.

[@theindyone]

I forgot that baseball tends to have more innings. Since 1900, there have only been 20 perfect games. Yep, pitching in baseball is definitely the harder aspect.

[@STARPHASE]

@daddykinzz the thing is, they prove its harder to his a softball, because its herder to raise your swing, than to drop it. i dont play either sport, however, my sister played softball for years, and she can hit a baseball pitch much easier than a softball pitch...she's also the pitcher.

[@Mia_GT]

We ALL know that there a few differences between softball and baseball soo why are we just repeatedly pointing the differences out?? Jenny is closer because that's how far the pitcher is supposed to be in softball. The baseball pitcher is closer because that's how far they're supposed to be in a game of baseball. Softball and baseball shouldn't really be compared because they both have different levels of difficulty and are played differently.

[@Spazmonkey625]

Exactly, your fields are smaller, and you use composite bats, and on average the ball is thrown incredibly slow by Baseball standards. When it comes to throwing the ball, it really doesn't make a difference, it's just getting used to a new style of grip. With base paths that are the same length as little league baseball, it's no wonder you have to wait to come off the bag. As you said the statistics are in front of your eyes.

[@hydrolito]

@Gitominoti It said she threw over 70 mph but didn't specify how much over so probably close to that.

[@gracep8646]

Oh. Right. Yes, I understand and agree with that. I must have misread your comments. I guess I was thinking that you were saying that the force has nothing to do with the difficulty of hitting the ball. Sorry about that.

[@mkeets]

@Gymnast101XD on top of that the amount of time the ball is actually in the hitting zone is way shorter for a baseball player say the hitting zone for the average person is 2ft if you have .33 seconds of seeing the baseball over 51.5ft the ball is only in your hittin zone for .0129sec. if you have .36 seconds of seeing the softball over 37ft its in your hitting zone for .019sec.

[@smithjosephusmc1204]

i really hate the force argument in this. anyone who knows even basic physics knows that force is measured by mass times acceleration. that gives softball an instant advantage just based on the fact that its almost double the size

[@jonorech]

2 questions: To make the study "scientific" don't they need to either move the baseball pitcher up or Jennie back? I mean, would the baseball guy break the sensor had he been closer? Shouldn't they have a softball player trying to hit the baseball pitcher? Clearly, Jennie Finch is the MJ, Tiger, and Gretzky of her sport all rolled into one. Shouldn't they level the playing field? If she still kicks ass, even more impressive.

[@bewing77]

@inz1 I guess people are missing the science since there are none shown. Science means forming a hypothesis, then devising tests that indicates the truthof the hypothesis and finally performing a large enough number of tests to achieve a conclusive result. Such tests must be designed to eliminate as many unrelated variables as possible such as in this case the batters prior experience of hitting one kind of pitch or the other.

[@kwysocki3990]

I am a freshman softball player in highschool... I went to the batting cages and hit off of 60mph the owner came over and said i just want to see sence your smashing 60mph softball if you can hit 75mph baseball... With in 3 pitchs i was hitting homerun balls... I am also a catcher i have caught a couple baseball pitchers but they have no movement like a softball pitcher...

[@Skullman683]

I think it depends on the sport. The guy said batters hit better with what they are used to so wouldn't a softball player have experience seeing that kind of pitching. It may have been better to put a baseball pitcher against a softball batter and compare hitting percentages to the baseball player against the softball pitcher. They also never gave us official data on the softball pitch. I know it broke the machine but it still should've collected the data. 2:47 is also different than 2:52.

[@Jamerz011]

@rburnsiv the batters that have a .400 - .500 batting average are slap hitters and bunters. They're quick and beat out the throw there fore giving them more hits which in return gives them a higher batting average.

[@Benisuber1]

Also, she hit the side of the glass which is substantially weaker than the center (where Jorgensen was consistently hitting). Even though you have more time to hit a baseball, it is still harder to hit a ball that is moving faster because the ball spends less time in a hit-able zone. And finally, comparing Jenny Finch to an average baseball pitcher is crazy. Let's see a top softball hitter hit against Justin Verlander or CC Sabathia or Stephen Strasburg.

[@MoisesFialkoPantil]

@meflak the video starts saying: "some people think that hitting a baseball is the hardest thing to do in sports...." i didnt hear "some people think that hitting a baseball is the EASIEST thing to do for a softball batter", did u?

[@bartjsimpson]

3) Finally, they argue that it is harder to hit a softball than a baseball because of the ‘high to low’ vs ‘low to high’ trajectory. Again, this is hard for the BASEBALL PLAYER. In baseball, you are taught not to dip your back shoulder and to keep your feet planted on the floor. But softball is different. The baseball player is use to keeping his shoulders level and squaring the ball. I would argue that if you put a softball player up to hit a 95 mph fastball, they would be embarrassed!

[@strack94]

the baseball may have weakened the plate but think about it, if you see 90mph pitches often chances are you are going to able to hit it. he doesn't hit softballs everyday

[@ninjahombrepalito1721]

I only came here for the how hard the baseball hits. I thought it could help me find out if a bouncy ball/ rubber ball could knock out a person before breaking.

[@tedrisk]

I don't disagree with everything you are saying but you also must have missed when Jennie Finch struck out ARod in the celebrity all star game. It was years ago, circa 2006? So he was still relevant in the "greatest in the game" conversation.

[@bartjsimpson]

1) Force has absolutely NOTHING to do with how difficult it is to hit a ball. Force is mass X acceleration (in this case, the speed of the ball because the glass plate has a speed of 0). Since a softball is bigger/heavier than a baseball, it has more force. This ONLY matters to players AFTER contact is made and it determines how far the ball will travel. BUT DOES NOT HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH ACTUALLY HITTING THE BALL!

[@pictureperfecttx]

@BrianMcCannMVP16 The whole point of the test was that distance plays a role in the incoming force and speed of softball and baseball, so if you switched where Jennie was pitching it wouldn't be an accurate test..