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Softball can be played as an organized sport, or as a pickup game with your friends. A baseball diamond is nice, but any grass field will do, as will your backyard (be careful of windows), or the street in front of your house—once the cars have been moved. In fact, curbs make terrific first and third bases. Set orange cones at the ends of your street to alert drivers that there is a game ahead.

CENTR FIELD

THE FIELD

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The softball field is like a regular baseball field but with slightly shorter distances between home plate and the pitcher’s mound and between the bases.

THE BALL

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Softballs come in different sizes, but the average is nearly 2-3 inches bigger than the average baseball. You can also buy a softball that is soft enough to use without a glove, should you wish.

THE GLOVE

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A leather glove molds to your hand, and is nice to have. Get a good glove, not one of those inflexible plastic gloves. A good glove is a treasure, something to toss in the sports bag for a game or practice now, and as life moves ahead, to stash in a picnic bag for any occasion where a softball game might, with luck, materialize.

A mitt is a glove with extra padding. A catcher will often prefer a catcher’s mitt, since she will be catching balls at higher speeds and her hands might warrant some extra protection. Similarly, some first basewomen like to wear a mitt, as they, too, are especially prone to catch fast balls. If you become a serious softball player, with a preferred position, there are also especially large outfielder’s gloves and a specific glove for pitchers. These aren’t necessary for ordinary, pickup softball games.

THROWING THE BALL

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Stand tall. Look forward. If you are righthanded, you will throw with the right hand and wear the glove on your left (and vice versa if you are left-handed). We will give directions for right-handers, even though lefties have a storied place in softball.

Start with the ball in your right hand, stretching your arm straight out behind you. Standing with your feet apart, one forward and one slightly back, point your forward foot—or, the foot on the side of your glove hand—in the direction the ball will go. Look where you want the ball to go, and point your glove hand at that same exact place. Your weight should be on your back leg, and as you throw, move your weight to the forward leg. Let your eyes and hand do their natural coordinating, and lob the ball overhand. Try to throw the ball right past your ear.

CATCHING THE BALL

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To catch a ball thrown to you, watch it. Don’t look away. The trick is to assess where it will be in the air by the time it gets to you. Think of your glove hand as an arm on a clock and follow these directions:

Pop-Ups and Fly Balls: If the ball is coming toward you from above, you want to have your glove at twelve o’clock, with the pocket facing up in the air. Watch the ball in the air, intuitively position yourself beneath where it’s going to land, grab the ball, close the glove, and squeeze onto it for dear life, because it’s easy to drop. The ball should be caught in the webbing of the glove, not in the palm, to ensure that it doesn’t fall out.

Regular Ball: If a ball comes to you at chest level, catch with the glove in front of you, with your chest as the center of the clock. Watch it, keep your eye on the ball, glove facing out, catch the ball, and as before, squeeze that glove tight as the ball hits the webbing.

Grounders: To catch a grounder, you have to position your whole body in front the ball. Run toward it or shuffle sideways to get there. Keep your glove at six o’clock either on the ground or close to it, depending on whether the ball is simply rolling toward you or if it is bouncing as it rolls. Catch the ball in your glove and squeeze.

PITCHING THE BALL

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Use an underhand toss. As in throwing, trust that your eyes, hand, and arm will work together to make it happen. Stand on the pitcher’s mound, or on any old patch of grass. Visualize the strike zone: