How big is a softball? Size, weight for 2025 NCAA softball tournament, WCWS
Apart from a player's own individual skillset, college softball is a sport built much on strategy.
This is especially true for pitchers inside the circle.
That strategy building between a pitcher and a catcher begins traditionally before a start by building the scouting report in film work sessions with a pitching coach. It is then executed in the game with things like rise balls, off-speed pitches and ball placement among other strategies.
But there is perhaps an unknown common denominator in all this with the softball itself, as a pitcher tries to retire a batter at the plate by changing up speed and location: the weight and size of the softball.
The NCAA softball tournament continues on Friday with a full slate of super regional matchups, where the winners of these best-of-three series will advance to the Women's College World Series.
Here's what to know:
How big is a softball?
The circumference of a softball is measured anywhere between 11⅞ inches and 12 1/4 inches, which is an estimated 3 inches bigger in circumference than an NCAA regulation baseball. As noted by The Oklahoman, part of the Paste BN Network, a softball is also slightly heavier than a baseball, as a softball weighs between 1.7 and 2.3 ounces.
Here are the official requirements of a regulation softball, as noted in Rule 3.2.1 of the NCAA's softball rulebook:
"The ball shall be an optic yellow sphere with raised red thread seams. It shall have a polycore center. The cover shall be smooth and made of chrometanned, top-grain horsehide or cowhide. It shall be affixed to the core by cement and sewn with waxed cotton or linen thread by the two-needle method with not fewer than 88 stitches per cover. The ball shall meet the following specifications."
- Minimum circumference: 11⅞ inches
- Maximum circumference: 12 1/4 inches
- Minimum weight: 6 1/2 ounces
- Maximum weight: 7 ounces
- Maximum COR (coefficient of restitution): 47
- Compression: Minimum 275 pounds; maximum 375 pounds
- Maximum dynamic stiffness: 7,500 pounds per square inch.