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Is there really anything more enjoyable than indulging in your favorite sport? The camaraderie, the competition, the pushing yourself to the limit– it’s an unequivocally rewarding and enjoyable experience.
Until you get injured, that is.
Whether you suffer a bruise or a broken limb, getting hurt while playing your favorite sport is certainly not an enjoyable experience. Not only is it painful (and will be so for weeks or even months afterward), but it could take you out of the game for a long while!
So why not wear protective gear in order to best protect yourself from injury? There are pieces of necessary protective gear in the game of softball in particular, such as a helmet, catcher’s equipment, gloves, and even cleats. But what about the elective protective gear?
In order to best keep yourself safe and healthy (and playing on the diamond), we cannot recommend the next ___ pieces of “extra” protective gear enough!
1.Elbow Guard
We so often forget just how delicate our elbows can be– until they get hit with a fast-moving object like a softball. That’s what a softball elbow guard can assist any batter with– protecting their precious elbow in the batter’s box.
As a batter, you know that your front elbow is the most privy to injury, as it’s the closest body part to the pitcher. By wearing a softball elbow guard, you are keeping this vulnerable location on your body safe.
2.Batting Gloves
Wearing batting gloves can not only drastically improve your grip on the bat (and improve your control over your bat and, therefore, swing), but they can effectively keep your hands and fingers safer from damage while running the bases. Dirt, rocks, and even cleats from defensemen– all can harm your hands. Keep them covered with batting gloves!
3.Sliding Shorts
Regardless of your age or gender, you should always wear a pair of sliding shorts when playing softball. These are worn beneath your shorts or pants, but entail extra padding on the hips and sometimes buttocks to drastically reduce scrapes, scratches, pain, and even injuries while sliding.
4.Sliding Knee Pad
When sliding (with your feet first), you know you should be bending then tucking one leg under you while leaving the other leg extended. You should land on the hip of your bent leg, but the knee is always left vulnerable, bound to inevitably hit the ground too mid-slide.
So what can you do to protect it from harm while sliding? Wear a sliding knee pad. These are comfortable yet convenient items, as you can leave them on your shin while playing defense to keep them out of your way then seamlessly pull them up when you’re about to step up to the plate.
5.Face Guard
When you are on the diamond, you know just how fickle the ball can be once it’s contacted the dirt or grass. The likelihood that it will ricochet and jump in a different direction than you assumed is quite high– and that means that it could hit you square in the face.
That is where a face guard can help. You can wear it anywhere on the field to best protect your face from extensive injury, which makes this an especially appealing piece for pitchers and infielders (those line drives can be especially terrifying when they come right at you, too fast for you to react in time!).
6.Mouth Guard
If you have ever been clocked in the mouth with either a ball or something else entirely, you know just how damaging those impacts can be to your mouth. By wearing a mouth guard (whether you are playing offense or defense), you are keeping your delicate face, teeth, gums, jaw, and even tongue safe from unforeseen trauma to the face.
7.Polarized Sports Sunglasses
During those especially sunny days, you should of course apply sunscreen to avoid UV damage to your skin. But, what about your eyes? They are exposed to damaging sun rays as well throughout gameplay.
Properly protect them with a pair of polarized sports sunglasses. Not only will you efficiently keep them out of UV ray-harm’s way, but also drastically improve your visibility and overall play!
8.Shin Guard
We already covered that your elbow is one of the closest body parts to the pitcher when up to bat. However, there is another location that is almost equally as close and, therefore, vulnerable to injury from a pitch: your front shin.
By wearing a shin guard over your front leg’s shin, you are covering it and dramatically reducing the risk of “shinjury” (sorry, but we just couldn’t help ourselves!).
9.Chin Strap
While most leagues and governing entities in the game of softball now require a chin strap on all batting helmets, some still don’t, so we felt it needed its own spot on this list.
A chin strap on a batting helmet will keep the helmet in place on your head to better protect you, which is key while diving, running (the amount of times a throw from a defensemen has hit a runner in the head is insurmountable), and simply just batting!
10.Wrist Guard
Our wrists are one of the most vital parts of the body for efficient movement of our hands and fingers– but they are still remarkably injury-prone. By wearing a wrist guard, you are keeping that relatively weak yet important part of your body protected (which is key while up to bat).
11.Catcher’s Throat Guard
Catcher’s equipment is no doubt bountiful, as these pieces typically include a hockey helmet, chest protector, leg guards, and mitt. While all are imperative, there is one body part that is left quite open to injury from a fast pitch or foul ball: the throat.
By hooking a catcher’s throat guard to the catcher’s helmet and having it dangle in front of their neck, the player is sufficiently protecting their throat from injury.
12.Thumb Guard
We all know the dreaded stinging in our glove hand after catching a hard-hit ball. That is where a thumb guard can come in “handy.” This is essentially a cushion that wraps around your thumb to protect it from injury and future complications from such. While this is especially ideal for a catcher, it can be worn by any player in the field, too!
Here at HbSports, we care about your gameplay by providing you with state-of-the-art baseball and softball equipment. However, we also care about your safety while playing your favorite sport.
That is why we proudly connect you with protective gear, from softball elbow guards to thumb guards! Browse all of our protective softball equipment today to keep yourself safe while playing so you spend less time off the diamond and more time on it!
