Fast Pitch

Fast Pitch (or fastball in Canada), using a 12-inch (30.48 centimetres) ball, became the more competitive version of the game. Slowpitch, with its lobbing pitching style, became a game for senior citizens and children.

A variety of pitching styles were still possible in Fast Pitch and until 1939 (undertaker rule) the pitcher was required to wear black or a darker uniform. In 1939, the pitching distance was set to 43 feet (13,11 metres) for men and to 35 feet (10,7 metres) for women. In the same year the ASA Michigan started the publication of the Softball (later Softball News) magazine. The inspiration had come from the bulletin Balls and Strikes that Leo Fischer himself had started in 1937.