Batting helmets - cage, chin guard or nothing?

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Nov 20, 2020
995
93
SW Missouri
I hate the way cages are made. There needs to be a version that keeps a 12” softball from hitting you in the face. They could be so much lighter and less obtrusive. Instead, they just use whatever they sell for youth baseball.

Agreed. If hockey can produce a “titanium” (I think Bauer called it their TI cage) face cage that’s strong and light, then so could softball.
 
Aug 1, 2019
962
93
MN
I’ve got comments!

I was present at a game at LSU in about 2018 when a player tried to bunt a ball and took it in the face. She bled all over the front of the plate but thankfully no serious injuries.

A lot of the players are wearing side/chin guard. They claim they can see the ball better. If one of the starters on the team does it, the rest do it like a herd of cattle. Not much protection there. And I’m not very convinced that they can really see better.

As Rad states occasionally, ”In baseball, the pitch starts out of the zone and moves into the zone. In softball, the ball starts in the zone and moves out of the zone.” In baseball you don’t have pitches with upward trajectory and I’m guessing the spin can be completely different. I think this is why this happens in softball.

The cage doesn’t just protect you when you are hitting. It keeps you taking hard tags to the face. Happens a lot on 2b steals. Would prevent a lot of flopping around on the ground from being slapped with a glove and ball in the face by a player engaged in serious strength training.

I hate the way cages are made. There needs to be a version that keeps a 12” softball from hitting you in the face. They could be so much lighter and less obtrusive. Instead, they just use whatever they sell for youth baseball.
Excellent points!

My gut tells me I have seen a helmet or two with a cage that allowed a baseball to pass through. I couldn't verify that with my DDs helmets sitting in the garage but somehow I thought I had seen it before. Watching the college games you'll see quite a variety. Some look like they were designed for softball with wide openings, while some look like they'd only let an air hockey puck through (a bit of an exaggeration).
 

Strike2

Allergic to BS
Nov 14, 2014
2,044
113
I hate the way cages are made. There needs to be a version that keeps a 12” softball from hitting you in the face. They could be so much lighter and less obtrusive. Instead, they just use whatever they sell for youth baseball.

The cages for younger age groups are made to keep out a 10" softball or even a baseball, so they look like something from Gladiator. Even the cages on helmets you'll find in stores that are intended for older kids are overdone...pretty sure the lawyers are driving that design. However, you can buy helmets online with the smaller two-rail cages you'll see on college players. Many off-the-shelf helmets can be retro-fitted with a smaller cage that provides protection and an excellent field of view.
 
May 16, 2016
946
93
MLB Foul balls to face... It happens more than you think. Most of these are coming off the ground. Because many times the softball pitch trajectory rises, it is more likely to come straight off bat to the face.



I think the chin guard is stupid. It acknowledges the risk of getting hit in face by the ball, but still caves in to dumb macho need to be as tough as the morons playing MLB.

If I am coaching college ball, I am making the pitcher wear a mask in the circle and while at bat. Why risk losing a stud pitcher who can rake at the plate for the season, because she was too tough to wear the protective gear?
 
Dec 11, 2010
4,713
113
Dd‘s team played an Easton team last weekend.

The Easton cages are complete ridiculousness.
 

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