Slowpitch · flight lab
Your zone, at your height.
Belt-high lob
Your pitch
Belt-high lob: Your pitch. Look for 6 to 37 inches past the front of the plate.
Look for Model
6–37in
past the front of the plate
Look for it to land 6 to 37 in past the front of the plate. Your eyes judge a lob over the plate. Your barrel meets it out front, where it hasn’t finished falling.
Every figure, and where it comes from
Rule lines come from the rule books, each cited to its rule or definition. The batter, the swing model and the example lobs are the lab’s own inputs, tagged that way, so a modelled number never passes for a measured one.
Rulebooks
- USSSA: arc
It must arc at least 3 ft after leaving the hand, and rise no higher than 10 ft above the ground.
Rule 6, Sec. 6 B–C. The lab reads the 3 ft as a rise above the release point.
- USSSA: strike zone
Over any part of the plate, between the batter’s highest shoulder and the bottom of the front knee.
Definitions, Strike Zone; Rule 7, Sec. 4.
- USSSA: illegal pitch
Take it and it’s a ball. Swing and it counts like any pitch.
Rule 6, Sec. 10: an unfairly delivered pitch is a ball, unless the batter swings.
- USA Softball: arc
Peak between 6 and 10 ft above the ground.
Rule 6C, Sec. 3 H. The 12 ft ceiling in the same rule is the Senior exception; the original lab read 6–12 ft for adult play from a secondary source.
- USA Softball: strike zone
Over any part of the plate, between the back shoulder and the front knee.
Definitions, Strike Zone B (slow pitch).
- USA Softball: illegal pitch
Illegal pitch, called by the umpire.
Rule 6C, Sec. 3, Effect.
- USA Senior: arc
Peak between 6 and 12 ft above the ground.
Rule 6C, Sec. 3 H, Senior Slow Pitch exception.
- USA Senior: strike zone
A strike lands on the plate or on the mat behind it.
Definitions, Strike Zone C: a 17 in by 32.5 in mat; the shoulder-to-knee zone is eliminated.
- USA Senior: illegal pitch
Illegal pitch, called by the umpire.
Rule 6C, Sec. 3, Effect.
Bat, sweet spot and air
- Bat: 34 in max
The official bat is no more than 34 in long and 2¼ in across at its widest.
Rule 2, Sec. 2.
- Slow-pitch bats are made at 34 in
Slow-pitch bats are sold at 34 in, so a batter coming from a shorter baseball bat gains reach they may not account for.
Secondhand, attributedBaseball Monkey — Slowpitch Softball Bat Guide (all slowpitch bats are 34 in)Relayed by a bat retailer’s buying guide, not a manufacturer spec sheet.
- Sweet spot: about 6 in from the endModel
The sweet spot is a region about 5 to 7 in from the barrel end; the lab places it at 6 in.
Reputable analysisDaniel A. Russell, Penn State — What (and where) is the sweet spot of a baseball/softball bat?It moves an inch or two between bats, so the lab’s 6 in is a middle value, not your bat’s.
- Lift and drag: baseball fitsModel
The flight uses a constant drag coefficient and a spin-dependent lift fit from baseball aerodynamics, applied to a 12 in softball.
Reputable analysisJeffrey R. Kensrud, Determining Aerodynamic Properties of Sports Balls in Situ (M.S. thesis, Washington State University)Borrowed from baseball fits; on a slow-pitch softball the path is a close model, not a measurement.
The batter
- Height, stance and box: one batter’s measured swingModel
5 ft 2 in, toes 22 in off the plate, middle of the box.
Community, firsthandPitch Atlas — one batter’s measured swing (their own video, calibrated off home plate)One batter’s measured swing, calibrated off home plate in their own video.
- Stride, reach and landmarks: the swing modelModel
Knee, belt, chest and shoulder heights, the stride and the hands’ reach, as fractions of height.
Community, firsthandPitch Atlas — one batter’s measured swing (their own video, calibrated off home plate)One batter’s measured swing, calibrated off home plate in their own video. Scaled to other heights by these ratios, which is a model assumption.
- Bat
34 in long, 2¼ in across.
Community, firsthandPitch Atlas — one batter’s measured swing (their own video, calibrated off home plate)One batter’s measured swing, calibrated off home plate in their own video.
- Barrel angle at contactModel
10° below level.
UnverifiedOne swing. The barrel angle at contact, read from a single swing.
The example lobs
- Belt-high lobExample
Peaks at 9.0 ft, lands 36 in past the front of the plate, middle.
UnverifiedExample arc, set by hand.
- Low strikeExample
Peaks at 6.5 ft, lands 31 in past the front of the plate, middle.
UnverifiedExample arc, set by hand.
- Deep strikeExample
Peaks at 9.0 ft, lands 85 in past the front of the plate, middle.
UnverifiedExample arc, set by hand.
- Inside lobExample
Peaks at 9.0 ft, lands 36 in past the front of the plate, 8 in inside.
UnverifiedExample arc, set by hand.
- Flat lobExample
Peaks at 6.5 ft, lands 66 in past the front of the plate, middle.
UnverifiedExample arc, set by hand.
- RainbowExample
Peaks at 11.6 ft, lands 26 in past the front of the plate, middle.
UnverifiedExample arc, set by hand.