They tell if the player is out or safe, if the pitch is a ball or strike, and monitor the game from getting out of hand(similar to baseball umpires)
High grade leather for durability and safety (so your hand won't hurt after catching a couple hundred balls a day).
Luther Taylor was nicknamed 'Dummy'. Is it said in history that another deaf mute, William Hoy, who was also nicknamed 'Dummy', was the reason umpires started using hand signals to call balls and strikes and to call out or safe. Since ballpark seating capacities were very small during Hoy's career (1888-1902), practically everyone at the park could hear the umpires screams of out or safe or ball of strike. Everybody, that is, except Hoy.
underhand
a pitcher throws a softball under hand in a circular motion
The compression on NSA softball in official play is 275 pounds on a .52 c.o.r. ball, with the men using a 12 inch ball and the women using an 11 inch ball. The ASA, on the other hand, uses a .52 with a 300 pound compression.
It depends how big your hand is
you under hand a pitch by tossing it under hand
The use of a softball glove is so it does not hurt your hand when someone throws it and it is also used for an aim so you do not have to aim with your hand. ( That would look silly.)
They improved tennis balls because when the hand hand hit it, it would hurt. So they made the balls softer for people.
the two are pretty much the same. the only things different are that in baseball the runner can lead off earlier, and the pitches are over hand. in softball the runner has to wait until the ball is pitched before leading off, and the pitches are under hand. some of the rules are different but that's it.
they would give a lot more hand signels than talking to the player at bat or in the field