Softball training at Clapham Common

Very good session on Saturday at Clapham. Ben, Richard, Kate, Alison, Jane, Emily, Manjiv, Julian, Paul all present. Practiced throwing, catching, pitching and managed to play some small scale matches as well. Useful drills organised by Ben. Afterwards some of us adjourned to the pub.

Another Bat for Team Collection

This cheeky 4 oz bat, was given to me recently by my brother. He didn't bother to scour the depths of the internet looking at US or Dutch sports equipment websites. No, he apparently picked it up for £1 at the local 'Pound store'. Thanks Matt.

Seriously, I'm not sure if it would even survive hitting an indoor 'training' softball, let alone the real thing. However, I believe that it may be useful as a training aid. One can work on the batting stance and correct swing, even using it indoors without risking smashing anything valuable.

In print

The article I wrote for City News ended up in print, after some editing.
The article.

"That's a good weight!"

The opinion of coach Darren on my new bat.
Softball practice on Clapham Common yesterday. A sight easier for me to get to than Finsbury Park (one bus ride away). The softball pitch isn't as obvious as at Finsbury, and it's a little more exposed, but it's good. Better class of mud, too. Nowhere near as squelchy. did some good drills on cut-offs and throwing, got some useful coaching on how to field high balls coming to the outfield. I have to get into the habit of stepping back whenever a high ball comes towards me. My throwing was woeful, I'm afraid. But batting was fun as always, especially using my very own bat.
A load of people turned up at mid-morning to practise frisbee throwing, and colonised over half the softball field. Very odd. We managed not to bean any of them with long balls, though.

[X-posted from my LJ]

Nicknames!

We need nicknames folks! Why not try the "Which Star Trek character are you?" personality test which Andy links to on his Livejournal?

Yours,

Geordi LaForge

Batter up!

My softball bat finally arrived at work today. I'd ordered it from a Dutch company, specialising in US sports, Forelle. They sent a 23 0z fastpitch bat by mistake, so I had to send that back, but the 30 oz one I ordered has now turned up, with a "one big sorry" apology. I was arriving at work just as the courier turned up with it.
Also, an American friend who's over here for work brought a cool-looking book on baseball for me to a BookCrossing meet-up last night. It's occured to me that we as a team have more books on baseball/softball than we have gloves of our own. True to our natures as librarian Loan Wolves, I guess.

[X-posted from my Livejournal]

Training at Latchmere

Andy Ben and Julian went along on Sunday 5th February for a 3 hour training session. We practised throwing and catching and some in-field work on trying to get runners out between bases. Played a number of games which enabled us to pratice pitching and batting. Ben hit the ball high up and hit the roof of the sports hall dislodging a loose bit of the structure with near fatal results for those of us underneath.

Indoor training, and how I avoided decapitation.

Good training session at Latchmere yesterday afternoon.
Three Wolves (Ben, Julian, myself) in attendance. Good coaching from Darren (in-game tactics) and Tim (playing techniques). Played a very tiring practice game. Enjoyed batting, tried pitching, and somehow struck several players out despite (or somehow because of) my wild inaccuracy. Managed to tag Darren out in a rundown drill.
I was in the field when Ben hit a pop-up that dislodged a 2' long metal ceiling slat from the roof and sent it hurtling down towards me. I stepped back, with as much dignity as I could muster, so the overall effect was more Buster Keaton than The Omen. Thankfully.