gaternation
Addicted to Softballfans
Not many people go a crisp 1-4 and say they love defense more then hitting. I have used every ball imaginable and universally guys prefer a good ball and want to hit over using a dead ball
If I offered my kids Skittles for dinner they'd choose that too. You can't just ask the players if they'd rather hit a hotter ball or a less hot one, especially after essentially 14 years of mildly too hot equipment. I cut it off at 2004 because even though that was the year after the Ultras, we didn't have the problems like we do now.Not many people go a crisp 1-4 and say they love defense more then hitting. I have used every ball imaginable and universally guys prefer a good ball and want to hit over using a dead ball
the guys that play to fight and drink beer
If I offered my kids Skittles for dinner they'd choose that too. You can't just ask the players if they'd rather hit a hotter ball or a less hot one, especially after essentially 14 years of mildly too hot equipment. I cut it off at 2004 because even though that was the year after the Ultras, we didn't have the problems like we do now.
We had synergy+ and 44/525 balls and we didn't have the problems we have now. Nobody wanted to play e. Now people appeal down to it.
People moved up to hit homeruns, now they appeal down to play where hrs are an inning ending out and an offensive ejection.
League and tournament participation speaks for itself.
So I ask you, do we want to keep asking the players what to do about equipment, or do we want to add some skill gap back to this game? Do we keep letting the guys that play to fight and drink beer perform close to the same level as the guys that work on their game? Is anyone besides asa ready to stop the short term cash grab and think long term about restoring some of the sport back to this game?
Not many people go a crisp 1-4 and say they love defense more then hitting. I have used every ball imaginable and universally guys prefer a good ball and want to hit over using a dead ball
If I offered my kids Skittles for dinner they'd choose that too. You can't just ask the players if they'd rather hit a hotter ball or a less hot one, especially after essentially 14 years of mildly too hot equipment. I cut it off at 2004 because even though that was the year after the Ultras, we didn't have the problems like we do now.
We had synergy+ and 44/525 balls and we didn't have the problems we have now. Nobody wanted to play e. Now people appeal down to it.
People moved up to hit homeruns, now they appeal down to play where hrs are an inning ending out and an offensive ejection.
League and tournament participation speaks for itself.
So I ask you, do we want to keep asking the players what to do about equipment, or do we want to add some skill gap back to this game? Do we keep letting the guys that play to fight and drink beer perform close to the same level as the guys that work on their game? Is anyone besides asa ready to stop the short term cash grab and think long term about restoring some of the sport back to this game?
Funny bc I remember when the 44/375 came out and everyone cried then that it was too "soft" of a ball. If you can't be "successful at it" without technology making the speed of the game cartoonish, maybe you'll just have to swallow that you aren't really that good.
The leagues are senior leagues with players that are minimum age of 55 and some as old as 70+. The extra benefit of a better softball will help even things out a bit. You may not know this but as you become 55+ and older you don't have the same strength, bat speed and flexibility that you had in your youth. Some of us can still hit the mush ball out of the park but 95% of the seniors don't.
Exactly, but it's been going on for so long that they'll have to bring the equipment into it. Right now every single player on my team can hit the ball out, and maybe three can handle a hot shot in the information with any regularity. It's too hard to build a new team and bring in New players when it's so much easier to hit than it is to field.I played in my first tourney in 2 years and the guys still playing down blows my mind. There was an Upper bracket that didn't make... imagine that, but anyway there was a team we played against (it was 2hr then IEO) and they hit 3 more homeruns. The sport would benefit from these guys playing where they need to play. Joe Rec Guy can't field this **** when it is hit down and no one likes to be drummed by the clearly superior team.
Why do you say good for you like I prefer defense to hitting? I never said that. I prefer to play defense than to stand in one spot and hope it's either hit right at me, or popped up since that's the only way to make a play 90% of the time these days.I believe the commercial was chicks dig the long ball. Bottom line is it's an amateur game played by people who have different means of measuring success. Most people but not all still prefer to hit over any other aspect of the game of softball. For those who live for defense good for you, but most people still prefer to hit and most importantly be successful at it. So maybe giving a church league guy a stadium ball isn't the best idea however the other players can enjoy a better ball vs a wet sock.
Why do you say good for you like I prefer defense to hitting? I never said that. I prefer to play defense than to stand in one spot and hope it's either hit right at me, or popped up since that's the only way to make a play 90% of the time these days.
People that can truly hit can hit with anything. People with skill know what takes actual skill. When everyone is crushing it 350, then 350 doesn't mean anything anymore. It's why basketball isn't played on nine foot goals. It's why the rim isn't five feet across. It's why an official baseball is an official baseball.
I like the description above of cartoonish because that's what it is. I've been playing for 25 years and it's never been more cartoonish.
300 pound compression bats and a 47/325 might not be a bad combo, but I don't think they'll change the bats anything soon. That leaves the balls so here we are.
That's the main problem around here. We have to hit Worth balls 90% of the time at least, and their GSL balls are hard as hell. Hot Dots are terrible, and people don't realize there are good versions by other companies.here in my part of ks i think the main reason that you dont see them is they got a bad taste from hot dots and never went back. I have hit a few different ones and the hycon is a good one and when baden had one about 5 years ago that was great.
You're mixing up 2 entirely separate discussions here. Equipment for seniors (and I'm talking over 50 not over 40) is an entirely different topic than equipment for Under 50. The vast majority of whiners about the balls being too "soft" are Under 50.