Sorry, Girls: Research Says Boys Do Throw Better After All

Boys have been saying since the playground that girls can’t throw, and now they have research to back up that oftentimes wildly offensive claim.

In news that is sure to upset many a female softball player, researchers are saying that women are inherently worse at throwing than boys, reports the Washington Post. But don’t worry, it’s not entirely your fault, ladies.

See, the ability gap starts at a young age and grows as we get older. It all goes back to the classic nature/nurture argument because boys are often pushed into sports at a young age. Still, nature may play a bigger part than we thought. One Texas professor looked at the throwing velocity of Australian aboriginal girls who grew up in a culture where both men and women shared responsibilities considered to be inherently masculine (hunting, etc.), and boys still threw better.

It mostly has to do with hip rotation, which is a key part to the throwing process that many girls either do poorly or don’t do at all. As humankind evolved, male hunters were required to throw well (it’s related to survival for some reason) and women were normally shackled with more maternal responsibilities, deadpans Newser.

Now obviously, there do exist proficient female softball players (heck, I knew a few in college), but even some female softball coaches throw their players under the bus like Harvard’s women’s softball coach, Jenny Allard. Not surprised by the research, she agreed that girls often to throw like girls (her words, not ours) and that overhand throwing techniques are tragically under-taught in the sport. With practice, she believes that girls could overcome the gap.

What do you think? Do girls really throw worse than boys? Sound off!