Play some softball in your spare time

Softball, also known as Tai Chi softball, is a new sport with national characteristics. It is played by athletes holding a special racket, which consists of a handle and a frame. The frame has a rubber soft surface with air holes that can act as a buffer. The ball is thrown back and forth in an arc-shaped manner. It can be practiced by a single person, thrown by two people, passed between several people, or competed across a net to achieve fitness, entertainment, performance and competition.

There are two main reasons why Softball is not well-known. The first reason is that, like square dancing, Softball is mostly popular among retired middle-aged and elderly women, but its popularity is far less than that of square dancing, so it is not widely exposed in the media. The second reason, which is also the most important reason, is that this project was only created at the end of the 20th century, so it can be said to be a very young project.

In the 1980s, Bai Rong, a physical education teacher at Jinzhong Health School, combined traditional Chinese Tai Chi thought, Tai Chi movement and the characteristics of modern sports, and combined some Tai Chi movements with tennis and badminton techniques to form this Tai Chi-style ball sport - Tai Chi Soft Ball. In 1994, Tai Chi Soft Ball passed the review and affirmation of the National Education Commission Review Group, and in 2000 it was listed as a new project to be promoted by the China Senior Sports Association. After years of development, Soft Ball has become one of the excellent mass sports and fitness projects suitable for all ages.

Although similar to tennis and badminton, both are sports involving rackets and balls, the movements of softball are obviously different from those of tennis and badminton. There are no smashes or volleys, and you can't even see any violent collisions between the racket and the ball. The characteristic of softball is the exchange of circles and arcs, and the players have to use the "round force" of a small force to achieve a great result. Specifically, when receiving the ball, the trajectory of the incoming ball is a straight line, and the player has to control the trajectory of the racket into an arc, so that the straight line of the incoming ball is tangent to the arc of the racket, so that the force of the ball can be perfectly unloaded. The same is true when serving the ball, the ball is served in the tangent direction along the arc trajectory of the racket. Therefore, there is no hard collision between the ball and the racket, only "cut, unload, pocket, and throw". In normal softball practice and competition, you can't even hear the bang bang of the racket and the ball, only the sound of footsteps and clothes.

In the past, ball games were almost always won by strength and speed, which has become a habit in people's minds. However, the reason why soft ball is called "Tai Chi soft ball" is that, as the name suggests, it uses the thinking of Tai Chi. There is no strong swinging of the racket to hit the ball, only round and clever strength. The movements must not be stiff, but soft, turning the diamond strength into the softness of the fingers. Therefore, the competition or practice of soft ball has a soft, coherent and flowing beauty.

As a form of exercise, soft ball has many benefits for the body. First of all, as a ball sport that involves the whole body, it is a good aerobic endurance sport that can help increase cardiopulmonary function, improve the quality of life of the elderly from the perspective of metabolic activity, promote the motor function and physical fitness level of young and middle-aged people, and promote bone health and reduce the loss of bone calcium. Secondly, when playing soft ball, the body needs to be both hard and soft, and it must have skills, joint flexibility, and coordination of large and small muscles, which can promote the coordination and muscle control of the whole body. In addition, since soft ball is not a hard-to-hard sport, but a soft-to-soft sport, the probability of accidental injury is much smaller than other sports, and safety is relatively guaranteed. Therefore, soft ball is a sport with high benefits and low risks, and it is worth promoting vigorously.

Although it is not as easy to get injured as other sports, soft ball still has certain requirements for the body. Especially recently, soft ball is not as simple as pure entertainment and leisure. Players usually need to face competitions, which means that the movements are becoming more and more difficult. Moreover, most of the participants in this sport are middle-aged and elderly women. The exercise time of about two hours means that the joints are used continuously for too long. This may not be a big problem for young people, but it does mean a challenge for women over 55 years old. There are usually many body rotation and lower limb twisting movements designed in soft ball. These movements have high requirements for the strength and stability of the core and lower limbs. In addition, there is no shortage of continuous strides and arm swings in dance. If the muscle strength and movement control of the dancer's upper and lower limbs are not ideal, it will cause the pulling of the joint capsule and the relaxation of the joint ligaments. Therefore, necessary sports protection is still necessary, and the most convenient and easy sports protection method is undoubtedly timely stretching and relaxation after exercise.

After exercise, especially after training or competition for more than an hour, you should do some stretching. Effective stretching can help muscles recover better, reduce the risk of stiffness and contracture after exercise, and effectively prevent sports injuries. The following are several stretching methods suitable for softball players.

Stretching the front of the thigh: Stand up, bend your knees, lift your toes behind your body, and then use your hand on the same side to hold your foot from behind your body. This action can stretch the quadriceps in the front of your thigh.

Thigh stretch: Stand with your feet apart, bend forward, straighten the leg in front of you, bend the leg in the back slightly, and touch the toes of the front leg with both hands. This action can stretch the hamstrings in the back of the thigh.

Calf stretch: Face a wall, stand with your feet apart, bend the front leg and straighten the back leg, making sure the toes of the back foot are facing forward. Then move your body forward and hold the wall with both hands. This movement can stretch the calf triceps behind the calf.

Shoulder back stretch: Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, put your left arm in front of you, grab your left elbow with your right hand and pull it to the right side of your body to stretch the back of your left shoulder. Then use the same method to stretch the right side.

Front shoulder stretch: Extend your elbows to the side and lean against a wall or door frame while moving your torso forward. This movement can stretch the pectoralis major muscle in front of the shoulder joint.

For each posture, stretch to the point where you can feel a noticeable sensation but it does not cause pain, and hold for half a minute to one minute.

Soft ball is an innovative sport that combines Tai Chi thinking with modern tennis and badminton. It is also a fitness exercise that has obvious benefits to the body. "I exercise, I am healthy." I sincerely hope that elderly friends who like soft ball can enjoy this sport better and more healthily. At the same time, we welcome more young friends to participate in Tai Chi soft ball.