Thread: Hats/Visors in Bad Weather

Caught some of the Noah's Ark Invitational played Friday night in Athens, GA against Florida.

I'm not a fan of playing in any type of precipitation, let alone a steady rain, but they did at UGA.

However, it reminded me of something I have never figured out. IF you are going to put players in the field during a rain, why would you not have them wear a hat or visor to protect their eyes and improve their ability to see the ball?

Hell, if I'm a coach, I may very well insist upon it. The last thing I'm going to want to hear from a player is that they missed or got hit by the ball because the rain in their eyes affected their vision.

I was surprised by the same thing as I watched it with my DD. Not sure why FP has gone away from it but even in sun visors are beneficial.

DD played in a pretty heavy rain two weeks ago. There were junior colleges playing at the same tournament. It wasn't lightning so they won't call the games off, even though the field did reach iffy conditions.

I'm not sure how much hats or visors help. The human face is designed with a brow for the purpose of keeping rain out of the eyes, it's worked pretty well for a few million years. I did see more then a few girls completing catches of fly balls and then blinking and wincing afterwords from the sting their eyes took from looking up at the sky. I'm not sure how a visor would help to that effect. It was good to see the wincing and eye rubbing AFTER the catches. I did not observe more errors then usual, with the exception of a "backwards pitch" that flew out of the P's hand towards center field.

All that said, I encourage my girls to have visors in their bags, and I know my DD has a few in hers. They are invaluable for blocking out the sun, especially for outfielders. If they don't want to have their team name on them, fine.

-W

I am a big hat person, bald spots will get sunburned if I do not have one on.

When playing in bad weather the hat comes off. Like the consistency of the elements opposed to the difference when the visor protects me or not.

Really? The brow? Yeah, that will stop the rain from getting into one's eyes. Your mate still have the bump from getting hit with the club before being dragged to the cave?

The bill of a hat or visor will always offer some level of additional protection until the player looks into the rain. Ever been hit directly on the eye ball with a rain drop? That can sting. I've seen players take a ball in the face because the rain affect their vision and lost the ball. That happens once and you will hear the screams for madatory masks on outfielders.

Then again, I hate playing the game in the rain and it doesn't take much for me to stop a game. My priority is everyone's safety, including players, coaches and umpires. It is not to get the game in.

My DD wears prescription glasses and hates wearing visors . We made the compromise of getting her a pair of high end recreational sports glasses with the automatic tinting . They work in the sun , the rain and the snow without her complaining of any problems .

If we didn't play in the wind , rain and occasional snow here in Idaho we wouldn't get to start our season until the middle of May , as a matter of fact we just finished our first tournament in Washington and it rained for at least half of Saturday . I would have been pretty bummed to drive 300+ miles , pay for a motel room and meals only to have the tournament cancelled .

Originally Posted by Michael N

. I would have been pretty bummed to drive 300+ miles , pay for a motel room and meals only to have the tournament cancelled .

How would you feel about staying an extra day until the swelling goes down in your DD's knee to the point they can cast it and release her for the trip home because they played in slop?

Extreme, maybe, but many do not consider the negative possibilities until actually affected by it and then, the insurance company is searching for someone to blame.

We tried to play a game in a steady rain the other day, but weren't able to rotate enough dry balls in to continue. The players were all ok with squinting, but once we were out of dry balls, pitcher lost all effectiveness and play had to be suspended.

Originally Posted by Momo'sDad

We tried to play a game in a steady rain the other day, but weren't able to rotate enough dry balls in to continue. The players were all ok with squinting, but once we were out of dry balls, pitcher lost all effectiveness and play had to be suspended.

Keep a bucket full of water at the next practice. Before you hand the ball to the pitcher, dunk it in the water. Pitchers need to know how to pitch with a wet ball. Gives them an edge. Pitch with a wet, worn out ball on the cruddiest field you can find, with the rubber facing the sun in the cold. Everything else is cake after that and tournaments will feel like vacations.

-W

Or just don't play in dangerous weather