Whats your opinion on wearing face mask?

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I have been watching my daughters pitch for over and decade and seen some beasts hit the ball back through the box. If this can happen at 10U imagine what happens at 18U and then college at 23. I do not care how fast her reaction time is sooner or later some batter is going to get hold of a pitch and drive it up the middle.

When your dd is throwing say (only) 50 games a year at only 100 pitches each game (she is really good) and only 1% get hit hard up the middle that is still 50 pitches annually (that is 500 over a short ten year career) she has coming at her like freight train. I do love the face mask.

As to corners. We ask them to crash and they can end up tight to the batter.... I saw a video pf a slapper that hit a pitcher in the face with a SLAP. (both professional players) How can we expect our corners to protect themselves when we have dashing in.

THE FACE MASK DOES NOT CHANGE THE GAME IN ANY WAY, IT DOES NOT GIVE THE DEFENSE AN ADVANTAGE OVER THE OFFENSE. IT SIMPLY KEEPS PLAYERS OUT OF EMERGENCY ROOMS WITH DEBILITATING INJURIES AND VERY DIFFICULT REHABS.

Don't expect any sanctioning body to make them mandatory in the near future and a college coach can do what he wants but he isn't going to pay the medical bills when your dd is injured. If you start her with a mask as a 10U she'll still be wearing it when she is 20 and she will not have experienced a serious injury to her face.

 

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George glad she's ok.

 

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#7 has fast hands... She never had a chance to blink. That mask truly saved a lot for her. I was relieved that she was okay. Not just because she is on my team but because the Wards have been family friends for years....

 

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My dd played in her first tournament this weekend in 2 years in Huron at the dog daze. She was asked to come play with a team from Erie, Pa. 14u. The reason she hasn't played, was because she had a bad fall playing basketball in 2011. She had to have brain surgery to save her from going blind or worse dying. She loves softball and has worked hard getting back to playing. She is a pitcher and now wears a lacross helmet in order to protect the left side of her head. She has 5 plates and screws holding the part of the skull that they had to cut open to do the surgery. I was sad to see a coach from the other team point at her and laugh at her for wearing the helmet. She is not scared of the ball and I as a parent am not being overly protective.

She went through hell with her injury. 7 hours of surgery, not knowing what to expect, the headaches, throwing up losing almost 30 pounds, missing 4 months of school almost having to repeat the 7th grade and now a adult, a coach laughing at her. But heres the thing, she is out on that field, doing what she loves. She might not of had the best game of her life pitching that day, but it only can go up from where she was in 2011. If only the coach could of known what she has been through to get back in that circle.

 

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My dd played in her first tournament this weekend in 2 years in Huron at the dog daze. She was asked to come play with a team from Erie, Pa. 14u. The reason she hasn't played, was because she had a bad fall playing basketball in 2011. She had to have brain surgery to save her from going blind or worse dying. She loves softball and has worked hard getting back to playing. She is a pitcher and now wears a lacross helmet in order to protect the left side of her head. She has 5 plates and screws holding the part of the skull that they had to cut open to do the surgery. I was sad to see a coach from the other team point at her and laugh at her for wearing the helmet. She is not scared of the ball and I as a parent am not being overly protective.

She went through hell with her injury. 7 hours of surgery, not knowing what to expect, the headaches, throwing up losing almost 30 pounds, missing 4 months of school almost having to repeat the 7th grade and now a adult, a coach laughing at her. But heres the thing, she is out on that field, doing what she loves. She might not of had the best game of her life pitching that day, but it only can go up from where she was in 2011. If only the coach could of known what she has been through to get back in that circle.

congrats on your daughters courage and recovery...don't let a FOOL bring you down.

 

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I continue to read posts on this thread and can't phantom why people question wearing protective equipment to keep the girls as safe as possible while not affecting the integrity of the game.

 

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You have to be proud of your girl in ways that most here can never comprehend. I'm sure the coach was laughing because he was just reacting to his unfiltered juvenile impulse; he is the same coach that would probably laugh at a kid losing his ice cream off his cone, or at a senior tripping and falling and breaking a hip. Your post has struck a nerve, and I am so ticked off right now reading it... Praise to your daughter for her perseverance, tell her to keep it up. Hopefully some day, that same coach will be saying "that pitcher with the helmet just beat us"

 

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My dd played in her first tournament this weekend in 2 years in Huron at the dog daze. She was asked to come play with a team from Erie, Pa. 14u. The reason she hasn't played, was because she had a bad fall playing basketball in 2011. She had to have brain surgery to save her from going blind or worse dying. She loves softball and has worked hard getting back to playing. She is a pitcher and now wears a lacross helmet in order to protect the left side of her head. She has 5 plates and screws holding the part of the skull that they had to cut open to do the surgery. I was sad to see a coach from the other team point at her and laugh at her for wearing the helmet. She is not scared of the ball and I as a parent am not being overly protective.

She went through hell with her injury. 7 hours of surgery, not knowing what to expect, the headaches, throwing up losing almost 30 pounds, missing 4 months of school almost having to repeat the 7th grade and now a adult, a coach laughing at her. But heres the thing, she is out on that field, doing what she loves. She might not of had the best game of her life pitching that day, but it only can go up from where she was in 2011. If only the coach could of known what she has been through to get back in that circle.

congrats to your DD and family for getting through this let alone able to return to play and a normal life!

That person IS NOT A COACH!!!! Coaches don't blast efforts like this (even not knowing). It's obvious to ME that if she needed a helmet, it was driven by something pretty special/severe. Chin up for you all and know that this person wearing a shirt called a coaches jersey is an imposter and anyone can call themselves whatever they'd like. Sad...SMH!

 

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congrats to your DD and family for getting through this let alone able to return to play and a normal life!

That person IS NOT A COACH!!!! Coaches don't blast efforts like this (even not knowing). It's obvious to ME that if she needed a helmet, it was driven by something pretty special/severe. Chin up for you all and know that this person wearing a shirt called a coaches jersey is an imposter and anyone can call themselves whatever they'd like. Sad...SMH!

What I meant to say...;&

 

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I was just thinking, there's a double standard going on here. most people say that D1 coaches will not look at a girl who wears a mask. I better not see their batters wear that protective equipment for their elbows since they have far more time to react than a pitcher. Since they came out with that rule about batters not having to move out of the way of a ball, I saw most girls wearing that sleeve. So why the double standard?

 

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I was just thinking, there's a double standard going on here. most people say that D1 coaches will not look at a girl who wears a mask. I better not see their batters wear that protective equipment for their elbows since they have far more time to react than a pitcher. Since they came out with that rule about batters not having to move out of the way of a ball, I saw most girls wearing that sleeve. So why the double standard?

They view the batting sleeve as enabling a competitive advantage - originally so hitters could crowd the plate and now so hitters are more willing to be hit by pitches in the batter's box.

It's gradually changing for pitchers as more wearing masks make it onto D1 teams and are successful. I expect the pace will continue increasing over the next few years as it becomes more commonplace.

 

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Anyone that laughs or belittles an athlete for taking precautions to protect themselves, has obviously never witnessed someone nearly lose their life from a batted ball. Any 'coach' that has a laugh at the expense of a Child, should look for another hobby. That it ridiculous.

 

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As a parent after my dd almost lost her eyesight, it is a no brainer! There are those that argue you shouldn't wear a helmet or a seat belt. Those that argue this just need to walk thru a nursing home just one day and see all the young people that will spend the rest of there life that society now has to feed and take care of. Yes we all have rights, but when they effect others then society must act!

 

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They view the batting sleeve as enabling a competitive advantage - originally so hitters could crowd the plate and now so hitters are more willing to be hit by pitches in the batter's box.

It's gradually changing for pitchers as more wearing masks make it onto D1 teams and are successful. I expect the pace will continue increasing over the next few years as it becomes more commonplace.

What's the advantage (speaking from a safety standpoint)? All their doing is protecting the most exposed bones on the arm. Without that piece of plastic or thin metal, all it's doing is protecting the elbow from getting broken. As for placing base-runners on base, I get that. So do it without that piece of plastic. Bet those batters would move so they wouldn't take one in the elbow area.

I do agree it is changing for pitchers. My dd and I were watching a regional a couple days ago (love the DVR) and I pointed out that the pitcher had a mask on. She blew me off of course. She's now throwing BP to her older sister and a couple other girls and not wearing it. And everytime she did it, I wasn't paying attention until too late (practice was nearly over).

 

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What's the advantage (speaking from a safety standpoint)?

The advantage is that you're now standing on first base without having a big welt on your arm...

 

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What's the advantage (speaking from a safety standpoint)? All their doing is protecting the most exposed bones on the arm. Without that piece of plastic or thin metal, all it's doing is protecting the elbow from getting broken. As for placing base-runners on base, I get that. So do it without that piece of plastic. Bet those batters would move so they wouldn't take one in the elbow area.

The safety aspect is what enables them to take an advantage. Some hitters crowd the plate to take away the outside corner and/or bring more of the strike zone into their best hitting zones.

Another aspect is its a lot easier for a pitcher to intentionally hit a batter with a pitch than it is for a batter to intentionally hit a pitcher with a batted ball. Haylie Wagner (Mich) is a LHP that bats righthanded. She wears a batting sleeve to protect her pitching arm because some teams would hit it on purpose.

I'm just playing devil's advocate on why it isn't a double standard for some college coaches. Personally, masks should be as acceptable for pitchers as helmets, masks and batting sleeves are for hitters.

 

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The advantage is that you're now standing on first base without having a big welt on your arm...

double standard...that piece of equipment slows down the reflexes. There's no real logical arguement on this. A girl fires a fast ball at 67 mph at the batter and gets hit in the elbow. ok, the ball arrives in .40 of a sec. She has time to move or get hit. New rule says she can stand her ground. So she wears a piece of plastic for protection, not for an advantage.

Same scenario only girl turns on it and drives the ball at the pitcher. That 67 mph becomes at least a 98 mph back at pitcher and people say that she needs reflexes and no protection. Come on?!

 

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Personally, masks should be as acceptable for pitchers as helmets, masks and batting sleeves are for hitters.

That's all I'm trying to say.

 

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double standard...that piece of equipment slows down the reflexes. There's no real logical arguement on this. A girl fires a fast ball at 67 mph at the batter and gets hit in the elbow. ok, the ball arrives in .40 of a sec. She has time to move or get hit. New rule says she can stand her ground. So she wears a piece of plastic for protection, not for an advantage.

The protection enables her to allow more pitches to hit her without risking injury. I didn't mention it before because I thought you got the advantage of getting runners on base...

For the record, batters do not always have time to avoid being hit and the new rule only pertains to pitches where the ball is ENTIRELY within the batter's box. As far as I know, the new rule only pertains to NCAA, NFHS and PGF (uses NFHS with some mods).

 

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The protection enables her to allow more pitches to hit her without risking injury. I didn't mention it before because I thought you got the advantage of getting runners on base...

And a facemask allows a pitcher to take one in the face, shake the cobwebs out, and then still win the game . I'm saying this in light.

You're playing the advocate for the hitters and I'm doing it for the pitchers . So which wins games, strong pitching or strong hitters....I could not resist.