Crack! The softball jumps off the bat and flies into shallow right field – or at least it should be shallow right field, except here, the right-fielder gets tangled in the curtain at the Lied Recreation Athletic Center.

Many college softball teams in the south and in California are able to practice outside nearly year-round – Iowa State, however, is not as fortunate. The team practices through the winter months on the field in the rec. As the weather gets warmer, the team has the opportunity to practice outside. But how does this start to the season affect the teams practice and play?

“It’s like a whole different atmosphere,” said senior outfielder Fallon Johnson. “There are things outside that you don’t have to worry about inside and things inside that you don’t have to worry about outside.”

One thing the Cyclones have to worry about outside is the dirt. The players must get used to unexpected bounces outside on a dirt surface rather then the consistent hops on the turf indoors.

“I think it definitely puts us at a disadvantage, but you can do a lot of great things inside,” said senior first basemen Jessica Quade. “You can do all your hitting stuff perfectly fine. It’s just infield, and outfield, which puts you at the greatest disadvantage – not playing on dirt, not seeing the full depth of the field because we have limited space.”

It is also generally the early part of the season that indoor practice really seems to affect the players.

“It is difficult your first few tournaments hitting-wise, getting outside and seeing it with a different background,” Quade said. “Fielding-wise, I think it affects everybody a little bit switching to dirt.”

But practicing inside throughout the winter is clearly not a season killer or even necessarily all that bad.

“Obviously, anybody would rather play outside,” said coach Stacy Gemeinhardt-Cesler. “But that’s not something we have here. A lot of great teams are in the same position we are. Michigan won the national title a couple years ago and they practice inside.”

The team tries to take this disadvantage, and turn it into around.

“We try to focus on the fact that it is immensely challenging everyday,” Gemeinhardt-Cesler said. “There is a lot going on with people running around the track. If you use that positively then it can be an advantage. If you can play here with all the distractions, then every time you get to go outside it should be super exciting, fun and energizing.”

But advantage or disadvantage, at the end of the day, the team is playing softball.

“It seems like mainly you’re worried about it, but when you get out there, it turns out OK,” Johnson said.