Softball is the game where the rules are very similar to baseball but the ball being used is larger, not as hard, and usually played by girls, women, and older adults. Though many of professional, high school, and college league players can throw a softball close to 80 miles per hour (ouch!), why don’t many women continue with their sport of softball?
Maybe if there were larger leagues formed for fast pitch softball, many players will continue with the sport. When you were younger playing softball, it didn’t feel like real fitness. The pitcher pitches the ball, the batter may hit the ball, and maybe you would run a little to field the ball. It never felt like a lot effort was needed but if you return to the sport after many years of not playing, you will then realize the amount of muscles it took to just field a ball!
As older women rediscovering the sport of fast pitch softball, here are some things you have to realize before stepping back into the game.
1)Your body is not in the same condition you left it 10 years ago! OOUCCHHH
2)Your coordination is not the same as it was.
3)Your muscles which helped you “swing the bat and hit that ball” may not be as built up as they were.
4)Running the bases and sliding, your body may totally reject!
Recently, a group of women who had not played softball in ten years, since high school, decide to join a small softball fast pitch league. The first game was very shocking for most as the last time many played, we weren’t married, didn’t have a family, or a full time job.
The center fielder went up to bat and still could hit, run, and slide! It took her a little time to get up but she felt fine minus a big bruise on her backside. Then the right fielder was up at bat. She hit out into left center field and began to sprint down the first base line forgetting the last time this was done was easily 10 years ago! She began to feel sharp, shooting pains down her thighs onto her feet and ended up walking the rest of the way to first base.
Besides forgetting to stretch, the reality of the body not being conditioned to sprint kicked in. From then on, all the women stretched, took their time, and by the middle of the season, their bodies were close to conditioned to play competitive softball. A lot of their drive had to do with their team wanting to win and destroy every team they played with their hitting, but hey, whatever drives you to become physically fit.