Why my DD will always wear a mask when pitching.....

[halskinner]

Please dont think that I am against pitchers wearing face masks, I am not at all. I am not an opponent nor a proponent of them. I never used one so all I could do was list the pros and cons of what others have told me. If a pitcher wants to wear one, more power to them.

Additional;

I just brought the thread back up withe self defense drills. & weeks on this board and only 133 hits on the thread. I sometimes think thatr I care about these kids safety more than the parents.

 

[coach james]

That videos makes me want to throw up... as a dad of a 14 yr old pitcher, watching that is painful. She WILL wear her mask!

 

[splinterpicker]

I have been about pitchers defending themselves and location also. My dd has alway had a mask in her bag, but never wore it. She is dang good at fielding the circle. All the sudden she pulls it out and starts wearing it, her choice. Our rule is if you cant see the ball leave the bat you have a problem. She said its not so much the hitter as it is the bat the hitter is swinging that concerns her and its not the good hitter that worries her. Its the oops pitch to the soso hitter with the 300 dollar bat that gets lucky. The other factor is that I have seen no less that 7 fine pitchers get hit from the fall to now. I am on the cooling off the bat side of this debate. Unfortunatly nothing will be done util some one is killed. A good hitter will be that even with a cooler bat.

 

[Mylil32]

Mine has wore a facemask since she was a first year 10U pitcher, she is so used to it now that she won't take the field at all without it. She wears it in practice and even in the outfield. She's never "needed" the mask but there have been some close calls with pitches right back at her, luckily she fields them, but better safe then sorry. Since our jump to 14U we have also gotten her an Evo Shield chest protector.

 

[redhack]

Hal

This is the worst line of thought I have seen about this. To think a girl from 8U to 18U never makes a mistake, and that Defense will protect you when you are tired in the 5th game on Sunday in 100 degree temps, is just foolish.

DD's PC told if you NEVER throw it over the middle of the plate she will never need a face mask. Point is DD's can never say NEVER. thus we as responsible humans add a layer of safety equipment to help compensate for the one mental or physical breakdown by young girls.

Do mask cure or stop all risk?? No. But they mitigate it. and that is what safety is all about, Risk mitigation. We as humans fail to achieve perfection, so we supplement the residual risk with safety equipment. This goes for every sport and or activity.

By your line of thinking we could extend it to say batters do not need helmets or masks. Just use the bat as you are trained and practice ducking. Or by that logic if a batter uses the bat correctly than the catcher does not need a mask either.

Safety equipment is for the one time you fail to do everything you train to do. The deference between a face mask and not might just be "seeing" as you walk off the field after being hit by a ball.

In the end I am sure one wealthy family will force the issue when their DD gets hurt. IMHO everyone on the dirt should wear a mask in some form. Should be a ASA rule for all youth softball.

 

[halskinner]

"Hal

"This is the worst line of thought I have seen about this. To think a girl from 8U to 18U never makes a mistake, and that Defense will protect you when you are tired in the 5th game on Sunday in 100 degree temps, is just foolish."

That is not what I said OR implied. Learn to comprehend what you read.

What I pointed out was verry simple. These drills work and they will improve reaction times. Is that a guarantee they will not get hurt? Of course not, but it gives them a better chance of reacting in time.

Thinking that doing infield defense drills is the best that can be done,, now that qualifies as foolish in my opinion.

Pitcher batter self defense drills have been back on top of this board for an hour or more and is getting next to no views. I have done what I can do to make the game a bit safer.

When a pitcher gets hit I have to ask myself, did they do EVERYTHING they could to make the pitcher's reaction time the best it could be?? Probably not. Did you put your young pitcher through any self defense training? Probably not..

If a 6 year old Karate student can be taught to react to an attack from someone 2 feet away, can do it in milliseconds and do it correctly, why would sopmeone think a pitcher could not be trained to react better to an attack from a softball coming from 35 feet away?

If people do not train them and their kid does get hit, they dont have to point the finger of blame at themselves, I WILL POINT THE FINGER AT THEM MYSELF!

 

[Sweet]

My dd always wears her mask when pitching. My youngest just started playing, and we started her out wearing the mask, so it it all that she's ever known.

I don't want it "mandated" or required in the rules that my dd has to wear her mask... as her parents we are fine setting our own rules for her. I really hope that masks become the norm just by parents/kids realizing how wearing one can lower the risk of serious injury. I have noticed that more and more college teams have facemasks on batting helmets, and i hope the trend continues into fielding masks too.

Schutt has a new lightweight, titanium mask out. We ordered it for our daughter for Christmas. It is very lightweight but costs about 3x the price as the regular steel masks. It's really nice, and could be helpful for a player who finds the traditional masks "too heavy"

 

[Jillsdad]

Oak A's pitcher McCarthy takes a hard linedrive to the head by Angels Batter Aybar! - YouTube

Is your daughter a better athlete than Brandon McCarthy? (hint - she isn't)

 

[JNew0872]

Masks are mandated for pitchers playing HS ball in California beginning this year. Many NPF players (you know, the few college players who were REALLY good) wear the masks in the infield now trying to be good role models.

-W

I have been trying to find this rule for California high school pitchers. Where did you find it? If this is the case, I believe parents need to start their kids wearing masks when they are young so they are used to them by HS.

 

[rdbass]

TV reporter will wear a mask in the future.