PART 2: THE PLAYING AREA

A softball playing area is contained within a 90-degree angle, and is usually called a DIAMOND, because the central part of the playing field - the INFIELD - is diamond-shaped.  The OUTFIELD extends outward from the infield to a boundary, either actual or notional.  To view an illustrated playing area from above, to see a Softball Field Diagram.

Everything inside the thick black lines is known as FAIR TERRITORY and is where most of the action takes place.  The shaded area outside these lines is called FOUL TERRITORY , where some action can take place. Everything beyond this is called DEAD BALL TERRITORY because if the ball goes into this area, all action stops.  As a basic rule, the batter must hit the ball into fair territory.

Unfortunately, softball diamonds are not always marked out and players may have to imagine (and agree with the other team!) where Fair, Foul and Dead Ball Territories are located.

You will often hear people referring to LEFT FIELD, CENTRE FIELD and RIGHT FIELD.  These terms mean exactly what they say.  Left field is that part of the outfield which is to the left as you look at the field diagram; centre field is the outfield area behind second base, and right field is the outfield area to the right on the diagram.

The pitcher stands on the PITCHER'S PLATE (P) and pitches the ball to the batter, who stands beside HOME PLATE (H), 50 feet away.  A right-handed batter will stand to the right side of the home plate (from the pitcher's point of view) and a left-handed batter to the left.  Once a batter hits the ball into fair territory, he/she advances counter-clockwise around the bases

Each BASE (First Base, Second Base and Third Base) is marked, usually with a 17" square plastic bag filled with foam.  The distance between each base for adult Slowpitch Softball is 65 feet (quite a long way!).

For safety reasons, FIRST BASE often consists of a double base, half white and half orange, with the orange section in foul territory and the white section in fair territory.  The batter heads for the orange part, the fielder uses the white part, and collisions are avoided.

HOME PLATE is a five-sided piece of heavy rubber measuring 17" across.

The PITCHER'S PLATE is a rectangular piece of heavy rubber measuring 6" by 24".  The pitcher must have one foot in contact with this plate when delivering a pitch to the batter.