How Many Softball Games Did You Play in 2010?

I still cannot believe that I played in over 115 games. What’s crazy is some of my friends played over 150 as they also do tournaments on the weekends. My Wednesday night team plays at Baumgartner Park which is ran by the City of Sterling Heights. It only has two fields and the only people who show up are the players. My Tuesday co-ed team played at Liberty Park which is a very nice privately owned facility that has 11 fields and a bar to hang out at. It was my first time playing there and the fields are much nicer than the city owned parks. While playing for the co-ed team I started running into some old friends who would ask me to sub after our game or that they were on another team on Thursdays and needed somebody to play. It was not every week but from April til August I was averaging 6 games a week. When the second season kicked in I was asked to play on a team and pretty much permanently subbed for my brothers other team. It was kind of nice to only do two nights a week from August til early November. I still subbed occasionally on Thursdays. With my Beachbody Coach business going in full effect I could re-arrange my schedule to be able to play every night. I guess that’s one nice thing of running your own business.

Any Championships?

Unfortunately, no. I still do not know how my Wednesday team has not won it over the past 3 years. We are a very complete team but just cannot seem to get it done in the playoffs. The co-ed team finished second. Our girls improved over the season and it was fun watching them build their confidence batting and fielding. The teams I was not a official member of but played more than the guys who asked me to sub for them both finished in dead last. Both teams problems were that everybody was trying to hit the ball out of the park and unfortunately it was an out if you do. Plus, we played with a ball that was softer so it would not fly out. Many balls that were hit would end up being pop-ups. It was not uncommon for us to be mercied by the 4th inning. You have to be so good to place a ball on the warning track that its just not worth trying. My second season team did very well. It took us two weeks to get use to playing as a team but we went on a tear after that. Too little to late though as we finished in second place.

I also played in a co-ed and mens tournament. Co-ed team only won one game. The mens team won 2 games. Both were fun. The other tournament I played in was called Oktoberfest so some people dressed up in costumes. A buddies team of mine dressed up like WWF Wrestlers and you even saw a team of Smurfs playing softball. It was a long day and the hour or two breaks in between games of course made time for beer. I lasted three games before having one but I could tell it took a little out of me. Never really liked playing sports where I have to run with beers in my stomach.

How Do You Think You Played?

I definitely improved through out the year primarily because of how much I played. Short stop was the place I played the most. Fielding was better this year than previous years and so was my batting. My goal was to get on base more than half of the times I got up. Singles and doubles were my bread and butter and most of the time I’d hit it. Having new gear definitely helped. Bought a pair of Boombah turf shoes and pants to look more “official” as my brother would say. I used to use an old set of soccer cleats (which killed my knees) and shorts before. I hated sliding and my teammates would get on me when it was a close play and I did not slide. I told them I would only try to get an extra base if I knew I was going to get there. I was gunned down 2 out of the 20 or so times I tried. The shoes kept my knees from hurting and the pants surprisingly kept me cool even on the 95 degree days we played on. For some reason I like to slide head first so bloody knees don’t usually happen that much.

Any Highlights?

Did hit my first over the fence home run at Liberty Park. As soon as I hit it I was like oh man get down. When I rounded first base I heard it hit the bushes and was instantly booed from my teammates as it was an out. Sad thing was that it happened on my co-ed team and none of the guys from my mens team got to see it. Cleared the 300ft sign by at least 10 feet. Probably hit the fence 3 times through out the summer. Its not apart of my game though and I only try to do it if I see the outfielders are playing in on me after hitting singles on my previous at bats.

Did P90X, the Insanity Workouts, and Tony Horton 1 on 1 workouts help your play?

Yes, big time. I had just finished the P90X and Insanity hybrid workout in Jan. 2010 and continued that until March when I bought the Tony Horton 1 on 1 Vol.1 workouts. I really liked the Plyo Legs, 30 / 15 workout, and Killer Abs from the 1 on 1 series. Man were those tough. Killer Ab was my ab workout of choice for at least three months. A normal week for me was working out 5 days during the week around noon and then playing double header softball games Tuesday through Thursday night. I mixed in workouts from those programs over the summer along with at least one day of P90X Yoga X a month. I noticed much more strength in my arms and shoulders. That home run (out) I hit over the fence would not of happened two years ago. I’ve gone from hitting 260 foot pop ups to hitting that one 310 feet. I also felt like I had a little extra juice when throwing to first from short stop or making a relay throw. I never really got tired either. My brothers other team has a lot of guys who are 25-28 on it and some are out of shape. One of the guys came up to me and asked me if I was 23 years old because I never looked tired. When I told him I was 30 he was shocked. “What do you do to stay in shape,” he said. “P90X, ever heard of it,” I replied. It’s just more enjoyable playing when you are in shape. Even if it is just a beer league.

What Do You Need To Work On For Next Year?

I’ve already put on another 5 pounds of muscle since the season ended so I’m right at the weight I want to be at. However, speed is always been a enemy of mine. My brother always says I look like I should be able to run faster then what I do. I had success with Insanity and could do it again but I am really excited for the Insanity Asylum workout that is coming out in March 2011. It looks like it will be the exact workout program I need. Not saying I could not do more with P90X or the Insanity workout again, but its time to switch it up. My goal is to be quicker on the base paths and also in the field. There were a number of times that I could have knocked down a ground ball if I had just been a little bit faster. I’m also going to be practicing on hitting to the opposite field. Need to cut down the 2 beers after the game to just 1. It adds up when your playing three nights a week and then going out on the weekend.

All in all I had a great 2010 playing softball. Made a lot of new friends and caught up with some old ones. I did not turn into angry softball guy either. Going to continue to work on my health and fitness so I can enjoy playing softball in 2011 and beyond.

Post from: P90X Workout – Insanity workout – Shakeology

My 2010 Year In Softball Review

One of my goals for this year was to hit a home run over the fence. The field I play at is 330 feet down the lines and 390″ dead center. Its not a small field by any means. We also play with the “Gold Dot” softballs. They are a little softer than the “Red Dot” softballs so they do not travel as far.

Growing up I was never a power hitter. My dad always told me to hit up the middle in softball and to just get the bat on it in baseball. Hitting up the middle is not such a good idea in our leagues. Its a unspoken rule that you do not hit it anywhere near the pitcher. Even in our league there where some choice words passed along when a pitcher was hit. Of course nobody wants to hit the pitcher but with a softball being so easy to place you just don’t do it.

One thing I learned how to do at the end of softball last year was to pull the ball. My main goal before was to hit ground balls between the infielders and just get on base. If I could get a double, then great but I knew my team needed me on base.

When I started doing P90X last winter I never expected to put on 10 pounds of muscle. My biceps, shoulders, legs and back started to develop very quickly. All of this muscle was going to help me drive the ball this up coming softball season.

Going into the spring season it took me a couple weeks to get my swing together. Even though I was in pretty good shape I was still a bit rusty. My hits were my normal singles and occasional doubles. Nothing fancy but sound hitting. After 2 months of playing I started loosening up a little bit and decided one day to start pulling the ball down the line. What I did next opened up my eyes to how much stronger I really was. The ball I hit went right down the left field line and hit the fence staying fair by about 4 feet. Another 3 more feet in the air and it was gone. I got a triple out of it and was amazed. My teammates were even more surprised than I was. During those two months I had not even hit one over a outfielders head and now I crush one. This gave me a lot of confidence to keep on swinging for the fences. During the first season I hit the fence 3 more times and rolled about 4 more to the fence. What I noticed was now the outfielders were backing up about 15 feet from where they stood the first time I came up. Sometimes I knew it was not worth trying to hit a home run because if I did not hit it out then it was going to be long fly ball and more than likely would be caught on the warning track. What I did now was hit line drives over the short stops head into the gap. I am fast enough to leg this into a double every time. The outfielders had to respect the long ball so by backing up they gave me more room to hit lasers at them. Since they were playing so deep there was no way they would catch me by the time they field the ball. So I pretty much would get one chance a game at hitting a home run. If it didn’t go over then at least I could help me team by hitting what would have been singles into doubles.

The fall season was more of the same. I still kept on doing P90X. My swing was still on. With the air getting a little bit colder the ball was like hitting a rock. I live in Michigan in case you didn’t know. Going through this fall season I kept on getting close. More deep hits landing on the warning track, rolling on the warning track, but nothing over. One time I hit one down the line and the wind blew it foul by about 5 feet and it went over. Needless to say, but I was disappointed. If it was fair it was still gone. Playoffs came around and last Wednesday was cold as hell. It was a single elimination playoff format. Three games had to be won that night. Two more triples again for me with one single. Not bad. Both triples went down the line and off the fence. We won. On to game two. Another two triple game with a double and a single. I hit the ball very well in both games. Its like that damn 330 foot fence was just taunting me all year. We made the championship game but it started at 9:55pm. It was 30 degrees out. Definitely the coldest game I have ever played softball in. Our team had a one hour break between games where we stood inside to keep warm. Bad idea. When it was our time to play our bodies were not ready to get cold again. We came out flat and stunk it up. We were mercied. Since I bat near the end of the lineup I only got one at bat. What really sucked was that I was pissed we were playing so bad that I was ready to just crush one. The left fielder was playing me shallow so I had a feeling I could at least get it over his head. I crushed this ball. When I rounded first the ball was still in the air and watching it start to come down. After rounding second I saw it hit the bottom of the fence. Since it was not down the line the ball traveled 340 feet and needed to go 342 to go out. I did get a inside the park home run (about time). It was my first inside the park home run where there where no errors involved. My teammates said the ball looked like it was going out but the wind was blowing in and it knocked the ball down. At least I did get one home run but I really wanted one to go out.

P90X helped me out so much this year playing softball. I went from being able to hit 290 foot pop ups to 340 foot bombs. Since my goal was to hit a home run I spent more time trying to bulk up than working on my cardio. I’m not slow by any means but I know next year I need to work on my sprinting. Maybe some of those triples I hit would have been home runs if I was a half a step faster. My fielding was great. My arm was much stronger than previous years and my range from doing P90X Plyometrics helped my lateral movements playing second base. If you play softball and are looking for a great softball workout, I highly suggest doing P90X. You can take a look at my P90X Results to see what kind of shape you can get in. Next year I am definitely going to hit a home run.

Post from: P90X Workout – Insanity workout – Shakeology

My 2008 Softball Review With The P90X Workout

Growing up I played baseball through high school and played intramural softball in college for the fraternity I was in. I never was a strong hitter mainly because I could never get into shape. I would say that my best hits were lasers up the middle or over the infielders head. I did by no means have even warning track power. If I got a hold of one it was going to land in the left fielders glove with him not even having to move. Yup, I was that weak.

Over the past 6 months with me doing the P90X workout I have really started to put on some muscle. I have been in shape for the most part from doing a lot of running but my strength was not there. What woke me up about the P90X routine was that it worked on muscles that I had never done before. I had always done chest and arm workouts like any guy would do, its an ego thing. It didn’t help because I still had small arms. Anyways, with P90X I was working on muscles like my back and shoulders and legs. These muscles I have neglected over the years and did not realize that a lot of your strength comes from those muscles. It’s not about your chest or biceps its about the muscles that connect to every thing else.

With all of this working out I have been doing with P90X I have developed some great back and shoulder muscles. I noticed it for the first time last night at my softball game. We had already played about 10 games this season when I was told that the bat I was using was basically dead and had no pop left in it. So I grabbed a newer softball bat and with my first swing I hit a line drive off the fence. It went foul which sucks. Missed the foul pole by two feet. My teammates were stunned with the new power. Some said it was the bat, but it wasn’t. It was from all of the P90X workouts I have been doing. I know it didn’t go fair but it still went 300 feet in the air. I know because it just missed the sign that says 300 feet. Funny thing is that I did the same thing two more times last night trying to hit one out. I officially now have warning track power. This is quite an improvement and if this was a commercial promoting the newest golf driver to come out saying it put 40 yards on my drive then P90X is what helped me do it.

To anybody who plays softball and wants to take their game to the next level I would highly recommend picking up the P90X DVD. Its only about an hour of working out and it will help you get into serious shape so you can continue to play softball for a long time and at a competitive level. When you look over your P90X results at the end of 90 days you will be happy that you gave yourself a chance to get in awesome shape. You will notice that your swing is faster and your speed around the base paths is much faster. I can’t say enough what P90X has done for my softball swing and my fitness in general.

Post from: P90X Workout – Insanity workout – Shakeology

Softball And The P90X Workout