Softball is a team sport in which a ball, eleven to twelve inches (28 to 30.5 centimeters) in circumference, is thrown by a player called a pitcher and hit by an offensive player called a batter with a round, smooth stick called a bat (usually wooden or metal). Scoring is accomplished by the batter running and touching a series of three markers on the ground called bases, and then touching the final marker, called home plate. Softball is a direct descendant of baseball, which is sometimes referred to as hardball to distinguish the two, but differs from it in several ways (see Comparison of baseball and softball). This article assumes no knowledge of baseball.

The sport's governing body, the International Softball Federation holds world championships, held every four years, in several categories.

Types of softball