The five senses (smell, touch, sight, hearing, taste) are all extremely crucial to humans living their life with the highest level of alertness and awareness as possible. However, some senses are more important to certain people depending on what they do. It is very important for athletes to have an insanely accurate sense of touch/feel because of all the motion aspects of the game.

The sense of touch/feel is extremely important to many athletes, some of which are softball players. Members of the girls softball team explain all the aspects of softball that make having a good sense of touch and feel very crucial, such as the motions of running, throwing and batting. The sense of touch is also very important to these athletes when it comes to choosing the correct sports equipment based upon the feel of it instead of the looks.

There are problems with being an athlete that are entirely dependent on the sense of feel. The  weather can have a huge impact on how players feel. It would be hard for your muscles to warm up if the athletes were playing  a game in the freezing cold.

Emma Murphy, senior and captain of the softball team said, “When you pitch and it’s pouring rain it’s hard to get grip on the ball. You get cold and there’s not motion in your arm.”

Injuries also take a huge physical toll on athletes. Because they use the same muscles so often, softball players often get sore and can’t play to the best of their abilities.

Murphy said, “If you’re feeling sore it’s hard to do anything. Pitching wise, I get pinched nerves all the time. My whole rotator cuff is super tight all the time so that affects me playing because I’m not as strong hitting and pitching.”

There are also many ways that athletes can get injured during the game while they’re sliding, running or throwing.

Murphy said, “I also have a lot of scars on my body from diving. Also getting cleated. We wear metal cleats so if we’re sliding and  someone steps on your hand with metal cleats it hurts really bad. Or when you’re sliding into second and you cleat the short stop.” Junior Tatiana Tabucol added, “When the catcher steps on you”.

The sense of touch and feel is very important to the aspects of softball in running. Tabucol said, “It’s short distance, so obviously we’re not running a lot but in the moment you want to be as fast as you can almost every time.”

Although buying equipment for softball may not be the most important part of the  sport, it’s definitely important to the players if they want to play at their best ability.

Tabucol said, “When you’re getting your glove, you want it to fit your hand properly. If it’s too big it’s uncomfortable.” Murphy added, “Your helmet needs to be fitted towards other stuff. If it’s too small, it’s too tight. If it’s too big, it’s wobbling all over. Also your bat that you swing, the knob should be about to your hip.” Tabucol said, “It can’t be so heavy that you can’t swing.”

Having a good sense of touch affects the whole game of softball and how the player performs, as well as in other sports.

Captain Emily White said, “I would say you need to have a good sense of touch when you are gripping the ball or the bat, if your grip is messed up you can’t perform well.”