Catcher's removing her helmet- driving me crazy!

[nixxy311]

When DD first started catching - 12U - I remember a coach for an older age group (this was Rec) was impressed that DD didn't always take hers off when she was tracking pop-ups. She's just starting to catch again for her TB team - she didn't catch for a few years and I really don't even notice if she does it or not. I don't think she does - more for the fact that it takes so long to get hair and stuff fixed - only when necessary. I do know she played with some girls who would throw it off as soon as anything happened. The other catcher on her team just had a collision at the plate this past weekend - and it could have been bad w/o a helmet. I think a lot of girls don't think about that when plays are happening.

Kind of unrelated - I watched a drama about fencing and after every point it seemed, the players would take their masks off. I don't know if it was more for the drama of it - so you could see the actor's faces - but it did make me wonder if they really do that. It seems like it delayed the matches so much.

 

[radness]

My post was me acknowledging your comments about catcher's individual preferences.

I just hope the catchers who remove their helmets are removing them because it is their preference,

✔

not something old school baseball dads forced them to do until it became habit. Which with the catcher from the OP taking her helmet off every time the ball was hit (fair or foul) in the first two innings, leads me to suspect.

My DD never takes her helmet off while the ball is in play. That is her preference.

✔

 

[radness]

Think it is great advise that when purchasing catching helmet and mask to actually wear it like trying on shoes and not just look straight forward but look down and look up left and right simulate a pop-up simulate a bunt and see what the helmet does.
Good Vision good to go!

 

[Eric F]

No rule is absolute. I'll have to look for the posts, but @Eric F I believe said his DD almost never, if at all, takes her helmet off, and I've seen her catch live in 8-10 games, and will see another at 8AM on Saturday morning.

Correct. When the ball is in play, the helmet stays on her head. This is the way she was taught from the beginning, and she understands and agrees with the reasoning behind it. Her usual pattern is to put it on when she walks out of the dugout at the beginning of the inning, and leave it on until she's walking back to the dugout, 3 outs later.

I look forward to seeing you!

 

[radness]

Take this a little farther and say anybody who is catching for a pitcher should be wearing protective gear.

Horror stories of parents/coaches getting hit is no bueno.

 

[erniekru]

Think it is great advise that when purchasing catching helmet and mask to actually wear it like trying on shoes and not just look straight forward but look down and look up left and right simulate a pop-up simulate a bunt and see what the helmet does.
Good Vision good to go!

I'm all for letting anyone adopt any technique they want, even if it isn't as efficient. What I think gets blown out of proportion is tracking the ball with your peripheral vision, aka "I can see the ball better with the helmet off". Any target of great interest to the eye is going to literally be front and center in the field of vision. We use our bodies natural range of motion of the neck and back to center the object. A catchers helmet does not restrict the field of vision at all in this regard.

Rad - on the video that you posted, which was an AWESOME play BTW, she had clearly tracked the ball while the helmet was still on. She was on it right away.. Progression on the play 1, receiving position on the pitch 2, batter swings 3, head up and to the left tracking the ball while still in a crouch, 4, start to stand up with helmet on 5, after standing and looking at the ball she removes her helmet (see pic below).



In my mind the reason she took off her helmet is that she didn't want to run with her helmet on (which is totally fine) and risk the helmet obstructing her field of view. The helmet moving around during running could be a result of having a helmet that is fitted loose around the head to facilitate taking off the helmet easier.

I do believe that for some reason coaches feel more comfortable telling catchers what and how to do their specific techniques more than pitchers when both are very likely to get specific position coaching outside of team practices.

I also believe that most of those who recommend taking the mask off are former baseball (or softball players) who used catchers masks. As anyone who has used masks in the past knows is that they are supposed to be fitted loose. They are designed to move a lot when struck by the ball. That type of fitting does not mesh well with lots of head or body movement, hence the need to remove it.

 

[SoftballDadnWV]

My 10u DD has been instructed by her coach on pop-ups behind the plate, to always get the helmet off, and I am fine with that. But when the ball is in play, where there could ultimately be a play at the plate, she keeps it on. The helmet she has now (Jen Schro VB) does not affect her ability to make a catch and apply a tag at the plate - she says it is comfortable and that she has good field of vision. I do not want a collision at the plate without the helmet, and we all know that can happen and how it can end.

 

[radness]

I'm all for letting anyone adopt any technique they want, even if it isn't as efficient. What I think gets blown out of proportion is tracking the ball with your peripheral vision, aka "I can see the ball better with the helmet off". Any target of great interest to the eye is going to literally be front and center in the field of vision. We use our bodies natural range of motion of the neck and back to center the object. A catchers helmet does not restrict the field of vision at all in this regard.

Rad - on the video that you posted, which was an AWESOME play BTW, she had clearly tracked the ball while the helmet was still on. She was on it right away.. Progression on the play 1, receiving position on the pitch 2, batter swings 3, head up and to the left tracking the ball while still in a crouch, 4, start to stand up with helmet on 5, after standing and looking at the ball she removes her helmet (see pic below).

View attachment 25804

In my mind the reason she took off her helmet is that she didn't want to run with her helmet on (which is totally fine) and risk the helmet obstructing her field of view. The helmet moving around during running could be a result of having a helmet that is fitted loose around the head to facilitate taking off the helmet easier.

I do believe that for some reason coaches feel more comfortable telling catchers what and how to do their specific techniques more than pitchers when both are very likely to get specific position coaching outside of team practices.

I also believe that most of those who recommend taking the mask off are former baseball (or softball players) who used catchers masks. As anyone who has used masks in the past knows is that they are supposed to be fitted loose. They are designed to move a lot when struck by the ball. That type of fitting does not mesh well with lots of head or body movement, hence the need to remove it.

I agree with your points
would ADD that peripheral and up and down Vision can be obscured by helmet and mask.
Visual range is limited as though looking through a tunnel.

 

[radness]

View attachment 25804


I do believe that for some reason coaches feel more comfortable telling catchers what and how to do their specific techniques.

✔

I also believe that most of those who recommend taking the mask off are former baseball (or softball players) who used catchers masks.

Could be, but not necessarily. There are a lot of people who coach who never caught. And they may be mimicking what they saw.
To your comment that's why I say to people who have never worn the new fitted style helmets and catcher's mask to try them on for themselves so they can experience what it's like to have that removed if they're trying to get the catcher to do so.
Because they are so fitted around the back of the skull imo they are on built that way to stay on.

As anyone who has used masks in the past knows is that they are supposed to be fitted loose. They are designed to move a lot when struck by the ball. That type of fitting does not mesh well with lots of head or body movement, hence the need to remove it.

Not certain about what the phrase loose actually means because I think that is a personal preference for people's comfortability and fit in it.
That feedback is from many catchers over the years.

Could say be able to get a finger in between the helmet and head as a reference,
but the way helmets fit especially with hair it's going to be different for everybody. Head shape and helmet shape arent the same and that's why some catchers prefer certain helmet mask combos than others.

 

[schwabach]

Take this a little farther and say anybody who is catching for a pitcher should be wearing protective gear.

Horror stories of parents/coaches getting hit is no bueno.

Yep. I had one black eye and a couple of smashed big toes from catching for my daughter.