Ken Hackmeister (ISC Executive Director) and Dick Mason (ISC President) attended the recent softball-baseball industry seminar in Chicago. This annual meeting, sponsored by the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Assn (SGMA), brings together the top personnel from the manufacturers, the softball and baseball associations and the personnel conducting various bat and ball tests in their university laboratories and on the diamonds.

As everyone is aware, we have an ongoing controversy in men's fastball about the liveliness of the bats and balls and the safety issues related to their performance.

To prevent this release from becoming a novel, here's some basic information from these recent meetings, some general information and what the ISC is planning to do to address the bat and ball issue.

1. All current testing on bats and balls is conducted by standards established by an independent company called ASTM. All current testing and testing standards are conducted for men's slowpitch and girls fastpitch only.

2. We were able to persuade the SGMA and ASTM to include men's fastball speeds in future testing. Dick Mason has recently amended and submitted the baseball testing standard on bats to include men's fastball. He has used a combined pitch speed and bat swing speed of 160 mph (80 & 80). The most recent bat banning by ASA was done from men's slowpitch tests using a 70 mph swing speed and a 10 mph pitch speed. In fact, they do not yet have equipment that can test at 160mph combined bat and ball speed. They believe they can get to 130 - 140 fairly soon. If these new "high speed" standards are adopted at an ASTM meeting in November, we are not sure when actual high speed testing will begin. Certainly not in time for any recommended changes for the 2003 season.

3. The intent of the ISC is to make an informed decision on the type of ball used in ISC competition. We're looking for ball specifications that combine a reasonable degree of safety for the pitchers and corners and at 
the same time retains a level of action that both players and fans want. Unfortunately, at the present time there is no test data available to make an informed decision for men's fastball.

4. The ISC is currently working with Worth to develop a K-Master ball with 44 COR and 375 Compression to use as a test in the January AAU Men's International Tournament at Disney in Orlando. The Worth K-Master ball used last season in ISC play was a 47 COR, 400 Compression. If Worth can produce the 44/375 balls for this test in January and player input and observation is positive, it may result in a request to Worth to provide those specs for our 2003 official ISC ball. They assure us a decision from ISC in early February gives them enough time to produce the balls and have them to US and Canadian retailers in time for the 2003 season.

To give you an idea of the complexity of this issue, here are some of the factors we are asking to be considered in future testing:

Pitch and swing speeds actually developed in men's fastball 
Testing on both poly core and cork center balls. 
Testing on a variety of COR and Compression numbers for both poly core and cork.
Testing at varying temperatures. Currently all testing is at 72 degrees.
Testing at various humidity levels.
Testing the low temperature compression difference between poly core and cork.
Testing at various altitude levels. Currently all testing is basically at sea level.

Currently, none of the above are factored into testing standards.

The testers are all university affiliated physicists with Ph.D. degrees. The equipment they are using is state of the art. Testing is being done both in laboratories and on diamonds.

Some basic information:

COR - Is a rebound speed measurement. "a measure of impact efficiency calculated as the relative speed of the objects after impact divided by the relative speed of the objects before the impact" If a ball is fired into a concrete wall at 60 mph and its rebound speed is 30 mph, the ball is a .50 COR.

Compression - Is a measurement of the pounds of pressure required to compress a ball 1/4"

Batted Ball Speed (BBS) - The measurement of how fast a batted ball is traveling. The current standard used by all bat manufacturers is a (Bat Performance Factor) BPF of 1.25 which means a batted ball travels no more than 125 ft per second which equates to about 88 mph.

Compression In Cold Temperatures - It is a fact with poly core balls, the compression increases dramatically as the temperature drops. Cork center balls are affected slightly by reduced temperatures. Remember, all current testing is done at 72 degrees F.

Bat vs Ball - While both bats and balls have contributed to the recent increase in speeds and injury severity, everyone agrees, ball modification is the intelligent approach at this time.

Injury Data - We found there is no factual data available on softball injuries. Any published injury data is obtained only through NCAA women's collegiate ball and from an independent company which identifies catastrophic injuries and deaths. With NCAA data, it involves only injuries reported for excess medical claims. Therefore, there is no reliable data on whether or not we're seeing an increase in softball injuries. The official position of the SGMA is softball and baseball remain "safe" sports with no increases in injuries nor their severity.

Bear in mind, all current testing is being done for men's slowpitch and girls fastpitch only and all manufacturer product for softball is made based on the test results in these two categories.

As additional information becomes available or when a decision is made by ISC for the official ball in 2003, a release will be issued.

October 30, 2002

From: Gordon Wise - - - ISC Information Officer
mailto:sgwise@woh.rr.com
http://www.iscfastpitch.com