Fastpitch softball gear for your daughter's season, by age

Not baseball gear in a different color

Three pieces of softball gear are genuinely different from their baseball equivalents, and the rest can be shared between a brother and a sister. The bat carries a softball certification (the BPF 1.20 print for Little League Softball, or a USA Softball / USSSA / NSA mark for travel leagues) on a 2 1/4 in barrel, and a USA Baseball bat is not legal. The glove has a deeper, shorter pocket because the ball is 11 or 12 inches around instead of 9. The helmet ships with a face mask installed, and most youth fastpitch leagues require one. Cleats, the bag, batting gloves and the tee are the same gear. Softball vs baseball gear goes item by item with one pick on each side.

The ball decides everything

Little League Softball uses an 11 in ball in Tee Ball and Minors (roughly 8U and 10U) and a 12 in ball from Majors up (12U), and the ball is why the glove pocket, the bat barrel and the drop weight all differ from baseball. It is also why the glove changes at 12U regardless of hand size: an 11 in glove that was right for the 11 in ball drops the 12 in ball. The youth softball glove size chart has the table by age and position; best youth softball gloves ranks the four fastpitch gloves built for small hands, with the maker's break-in rating on each.

Bats: light drops, the right stamp

Fastpitch drops run lighter than baseball drops at the same age: -12 or -13 for 6U and 8U, -11 or -12 for 10U, -10 or -11 for 12U. Length comes from height and weight, and the fastpitch bat size chart reproduces the retailer's table with three tests you can do in the store. The roundups are split by division: best fastpitch bats for 8U (mostly cheap one-piece alloys with the thin handle small hands need), best fastpitch bats for 10U (where the two-piece composites earn their price by taking the sting out of a mis-hit) and best fastpitch bats for 12U (the division where the ball goes to 12 inches and the drop steps to -11 or -10). If the budget is set, best fastpitch bats under $100 lists every certified bat a major maker was still selling under a hundred dollars, by drop and division. Best fastpitch softball bats is the parent page across every division, and fastpitch bats for power hitters covers the -9 and -8 drops and which of them the makers actually label end loaded. If there is an adult slowpitch bat in the garage, fastpitch vs slowpitch bats explains why it is not a spare. Easton Fire Fly vs DeMarini Spryte compares the two -12 composites at the top of that list.

What to buy first

The glove and the helmet, because she cannot practice without them; the bat can be borrowed from the team bag for a week while you watch which length she reaches for. What does my daughter need for softball is the first-season list in priority order, with what the league provides, sizes by age, and one certification-correct pick per line. Catcher's gear comes last and only if she catches; softball-specific youth sets size the chest protector for girls and are on the catcher's sets page.

What decides the price, and the mistake to avoid

On bats, construction: alloy for a first season, composite once she is hitting regularly. On gloves, leather and closure: the Velcro-back starter gloves close on day one and wear faster; the A500-class gloves last and need a break-in. The mistake most parents make is handing a daughter her brother's baseball glove and bat. The glove drops the bigger ball and the bat gets pulled by the umpire. Every softball product here shows its certification, drop, sizes and closure quoted from the maker or the retailer listing named, with the link. The buttons check the current Amazon price.

If you only read one page

Read the daughter's checklist. It puts the seven items in the order they are needed, says which ones the league supplies, and carries one pick per line that is certified and sized for the age band. Then read the glove size chart before you buy the glove, and ask the coach which stamp the league requires before you buy the bat. Those three steps cover the three things that differ from baseball; everything else in her bag is the same gear the baseball hubs on this site already rank.