Softball Equipment
Softball was started in 1887 by a group of twenty young men who had gathered in the Farraut Boat Club gym to listen to a football game.One of the men George Hancock-who is suggested to be the inventor of Softball- tied a glove so it would look like a ball then drew out a diamond on the floor, as for a bat he used a broken broom stick.
.http://web.sbu.edu/friedsam/archives/athletics/Softball/History%20of%20Softball.htm
One of the most important pieces of equipment to Softball is the bat There are two types of bats in Softball aluminum and composite. The composite bat is made from a number of different materials such as; carbon fiber, aramid,epoxy, poly, steel rod, and fiber glass. The composite bat was brought up in the
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A softball is made up of two parts the core and covering. The covering is made up of synthetic, composite, or natural leather and is most of the time dyed yellow to help with visibility;the leather is then stitched around the ball with a red thread. The softball’s core however can vary depending on the quality of the ball. If it is a higher-quality ball like those used for professionals then it will most likely be made of kapok, a fiber obtained from a tropical tree in central or south america. These materials help to improve it’s elasticity and resistance and it will also improve the ball’s flight distance, prevent bat damage and limit bat vibration. Now if it is of a lower-quality then it might be made with cork or rubber or even a bit of both. These materials are a bit softer as to limit injury. And last but not least a line of kapok is wound tightly around the center of the core to ensure that every ball is of 12 inches. http://www.ehow.com/facts_5407786_materials-used-make-softballs_.html The final equipment is the glove. The softball glove can come in a few colors but the three most common colors are beige, black, and a light brown. The two types of materials used are cowhide and pigskin; cowhide performs quite nicely and is a great choice for new players of the sport but doesn’t tend to last very long. The softball mitt is very different from the glove. A glove shows the fingers while a mitt doesn’t; that makes it easier