Day 14 - First Practice

My personal Spring Training has just begun its third week, and I am very pleased with the progress I have made in getting ready for Softball season. After being very lazy the last few months, it has been a struggle to get back into shape and become an athlete once again, but I think the past two weeks have been a success and I am now ready to move toward the more technical aspects of Spring Training.

For the past 14 days, I've really been focusing on base work. Lots of sprints, lots of push-ups and sit-ups, lots of lunges and lots of hills have defined what I have done. I've been pretty good about waking up in the morning and doing a workout, and I have actually found myself sleeping better at night and being more active and upbeat during the day. Sure, I have worked through some soreness, but that is to be expected.

Last night, however, I began to switch gears a little to focus on more technical aspects of getting ready for the season. Focusing on reinvigorating my hitting, loosening up my throwing arm, and fielding pop flys in the outfield. I'm also trying to improve on these skills by learning how to hit to all fields, when to hit the cut-off man, and so forth. I've always been a smart player, but if I can use these little tricks to be a better teammate, than I'm going to do them.

The team I practiced with last night is my coed team. We seem to have an interesting blend of players of a wide variety of talents. I don't think we are as talented or athletic as the team I was on last year, but I think we have the commitment to get better. It may try my patience a little bit, but the experience of playing with new people and learning their strengths and weaknesses will make me a better ballplayer.

Despite the shift of attention, I'm still going to try and workout at least three times a week. I want to make sure I am in top shape for the season, so pacing myself and allowing adequate recovery time is going to be key. It will be a long season, and there will inevitably be bumps and bruises, but if I am in continuous good shape, maybe I can lessen the negative impact of those injuries.

Our schedule comes out on Saturday, and I think we will be playing on Wednesday nights. I'll be sure to post the schedule on here when I get it.

Always take on a 3-0 pitch ;)