I agree with Greymule that "above the head" should be removed from the books. It is another example of the rules writers trying to use a short sentence to explain a larger concept. Then the short sentence gets interpteted literally, and we have the ridiculous issue of a head being a reference point in space to determine whether or not we call a foul tip.
Then we need clarification interpretations, like the NFHS interp that Roger pointed out. BTW - here is the correct link:
http://www.nfhs.org/sports/softball_interp.htm .Better we should just get rid of the poor statement.
As Mike noted, the only thing that matters is the "sharp and direct" clause. If the catcher moves the glove to where the ball is headed, and then it comes off the bat directly to the glove - foul tip. But if the ball is appreciably deflected and slowed off the bat, and the catcher has time to
move the glove to the ball then we have a caught fly ball.
There may be a gray area here where a catcher, with fast reflexes, and set up deep - may move her glove to the ball on a deflection straight back from the bat. But that movement won't be much, and I would still call that a foul tip. (Actually, if catchers had super fast reflexes and could move to every deflected ball, we umpires would not need all our protective gear!)
WMB