How Are Softballs Made?

Introduction

     OWW!!! That hurt! 

     Have you ever been hit by a softball? I have and it hurts!

     That's what made me wonder what's inside a softball. They call them softballs but they're really not soft at all. Keep reading to find out how softballs are made.

Parts of a Softball

     Softballs might look very basic on the outside. But they have a lot of parts to them that are more complicated like the core, cover, stitching, colors, and sizes.

How Softballs Have Changed

     Back in time, the softball used to be called a mush ball. But softballs are made better - and harder - now than they used to be when the sport first started.

Cover

     The cover of a softball is made out of leather, synthetic leather (synthetic means artificial or not natural), or rubber. A machine like a small punch press is used to cut the covers of softballs.

     Each cover is checked over to make sure they are the right softness and thickness. Then they are put together into pairs.

Stitching

     Different colored stitches means different things. At one time, stitching was white but this makes the ball harder to see.

     Today many softball are made with red stitching which makes the ball easier for the batter to see and also helps the batter figure out how the pitch is spinning.

     The red string which is made out of cotton or linen is either flat or raised which helps with gripping the softball.     

Core

     The inside of a softball is called the core. Back in time, the core was made from a material like cotton called pressed Kapok. That's why the ball was soft.

     Today's softball is a bit harder. Over the last 30 years, many softballs have been made using a hard cork core. They can been made with different mixtures of cork, plastic, polyurethane, foam, and rubber, depending on how hard or soft you want the ball to be.

     Now some softballs are actually harder than a baseball when they are made with a hard solid core.

Compression

     Compression is how many pounds it takes to squeeze a quarter of an inch. The higher the compression, the harder the softball.

     Compression helps the ball go far when it is hit. Harder softballs have more compression and travel farther. Softer softballs have less compression and they don’t travel as far.

     Sometimes the ball is made differently depending if you are going to play outdoors or indoors, or if the ball is going to be used by children or adults. 

Bouncy Ball

      COR is a measurement for how much a ball will bounce. Higher COR softballs are bouncier which means they will go further when hit. Lower COR softballs won’t go as far.

COLOR

      Most softballs used to be white. But now many softballs are yellow to see better in sunlight, and sometimes orange softballs are used at night.

Author's Note

    I got inspired to do this project because softball is my favorite sport and I play on a softball team. I love playing softball, and I've always been curious about what is on the inside of a softball and how it's made.