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Originally Posted by skimoose
Same problem up here in Connecticut. Had to go to Dick's too. I found individual yellow 11" 'fast pitch' Wilson balls at $4.50 each. The Worth 'slow pitch' balls were white and $5.50.
Anyone know if there's a weight difference between fast pitch and slow pitch softballs????  |
I did some Googling and found this site -
http://hypertextbook.com/facts/2001/WilliamPoon.shtml - It cites a couple of regulations for the mass of an 11" ball. Of course one of them is from a manual that is only distributed in printed form and the URL for the other is a dead link.
The citations list two mass ranges for 11" balls: 165-175 grams and 167-174 grams. Both pertinent citations say the 11" ball circumference should be 11" +/- 1/8"
More to your point - I did not find a specified difference between balls used in slow, fast or modified pitch games. However, that could be because I didn't find any much of anything useful on the subject. Who out there is better at picking search terms than I?
There seem to a zillion variations in ball construction (including the zillion that Worth offers); and the specs commonly used to separate balls seem to be Circumference, Coefficient of Restitution (COR), Lbs of force required to achieve a specific deformation, Cover material used, Stitching used, and Core material.
Apparently ball mass is not something that players use to separate one ball type from another.
Bottom line(s):
- Get an 11" ball, not a 12" or larger.
- If Worth makes only one ball that matches the vague spec in the FVC BoM, it isn't obvious on the Worth web site.
- Cross your fingers and don't spend too much money just yet...(I haven't opened my $50 bucket of balls yet.)
- I think the Hangin' Around BoM needs a bit of improvement (Such as a more precise ball spec or an explicit confirmation that the vagueness is intentional).
Blake