America has always been one of the most innovative and inventive nations of the world when it comes to sports. Softball is one of the finest innovations in the history of American sports. Softball is another close relative of the popular sport baseball, but with alterations. Softball, without a doubt is one of the most interesting games on the earth with multiple dimensions. This dynamic game of softball can be played in two broad ways based on which the game may be classified into two broad forms slow pitch and fast-pitch.

Fast-pitch is basically a very defensive version of the game, and the game permits the pitcher (the player who throws the softball to the batter who waits to hit it) to dominate the scene and the entire proceedings of the game. Here the pitcher has the full opportunity to deliver the softball at a maximum speed. The throw is usually a very flat one, causing all the trouble for the batter to make the score, as hitting the ball becomes a really tough proposition. Quite obviously, there are a large number of strikeouts and a number of ground balls. Even the scores remain very low for such difficulties in facing the ball and enhance the scoring and the scoring rate.

In a game of fast-pitch softball, the fielding team is allowed to field with nine players. The left, center and right fielder have the right to field in the outfield. The pitcher, catcher, first baseman, second baseman, third baseman and shortstop have their positions in the infield. There is a distinct dissimilarity between a fast-pitch softball and that of the baseball, is that there is no pitcher's mound as in baseball.

However, women's fast-pitch softball made it to the Olympics in 1996, but this game of softball, including baseball, was dropped from the competition in 2005 from the 2012 games.