What Is Slugging Percentage in Softball?

Slugging percentage answers a question batting average can't: when you get a hit, how big is it? Batting average treats a single and a home run identically. Slugging percentage doesn't — it counts total bases, so a home run is worth four times what a single is worth.

This is the stat people mean when they say "slug" in baseball or softball. A .500 slugging percentage means you average half a base per at-bat. Because it counts bases rather than hits, slugging percentage can exceed 1.000 — a player who homers every at-bat would slug 4.000.

In slowpitch, slugging percentage runs far higher than in baseball. Across 44,078 tracked plate appearances from 7,553 rec-league players, the aggregate slugging percentage is .836 — roughly double a typical MLB figure. Judge your own number against slowpitch, not against the big leagues.