Chest Protectors Pitchers?

[radness]

Can Share this story

At D1 practice Long Beach State.
Defense Situations
Catching. No pitcher. Wasnt wearing chest protector.
Outfield threw home.
Throw took a nasty short hop in front of me.
Ball came right up and
Smacked me in the lower chest.

Luckily....i was wearing a cross your heart BRA. Criss crosses ya'know in between the woman parts
Ball hit exactly there.
Stopped the ball. No pain.

Coach astounded asked
" Are you ok Turbo"
I replied,
" Yeah coach, hit my BRA !"

I would say WITH CERTAINTY
something be can worn as a protective device!....
Atleast to help!

Ps-think everyone should wear elbow guard hitting!!

After smacking my knee on the cement edge along a foul fence when younger,..
Started always wearing knee pads as well!
Put the knee pad tucked under nickers/pants. Not the entire thing around knee restricting circulation. Just the pad part. Even while catching under shin guards!

 

[Tatonka]

You can be the greatest defensive fielding player in the world...."STUF" happens. If you're going to get hung up on a safety device not being fully certified by the government or some branch thereof or proven to be 100% effective in every scenario then don't use it. Sure being good with the glove is going to prevent a lot of these types of injuries but c'mon we're talking to a wide variety of ages and abilities on here (and at the ball fields). If your DD is coming up through the ranks and as is often the case, playing up in age or classification what downside is there to wearing a relatively (compared to a bat/glove/etc.) inexpensive, lightweight, unobtrusive piece of protective equipment? Both my girls wore the heartguard type of undershirt in their earlier playing days. Here's an idea... Dads/Coaches, you go stand 35 feet in front of me and let me (or my DD's) hit balls at you day in and day out...even with a cup and a good glove you'll be wishing you had some extra protection.

 

[coachbubbles]

Exactly- I’m going with some protection has to be better than no protection. Sure we teach our kids to be proficient with the leather. Mine plays 3b when not pitching and she will get in your face. She knows how to use the glove....but as mentioned “Stuff happens”. Id feel terrible as a parent if I didn’t feel like I put her in the best reasonable situation to avoid injury.

 

[Rick M]

DD wore the Hex shirt for her first few years pitching. Now that she's 13 and has some more curves, she likes the Evo Shield for the way that it molds to a player's body.

 

[uncdrew]

Can Share this story

At D1 practice Long Beach State.
Defense Situations
Catching. No pitcher. Wasnt wearing chest protector.
Outfield threw home.
Throw took a nasty short hop in front of me.
Ball came right up and
Smacked me in the lower chest.

Luckily....i was wearing a cross your heart BRA. Criss crosses ya'know in between the woman parts
Ball hit exactly there.
Stopped the ball. No pain.

Coach astounded asked
" Are you ok Turbo"
I replied,
" Yeah coach, hit my BRA !"

I would say WITH CERTAINTY
something be can worn as a protective device!....
Atleast to help!

Ps-think everyone should wear elbow guard hitting!!

After smacking my knee on the cement edge along a foul fence when younger,..
Started always wearing knee pads as well!
Put the knee pad tucked under nickers/pants. Not the entire thing around knee restricting circulation. Just the pad part. Even while catching under shin guards!

Hah. I thought you were a dude.

 

[uncdrew]

Exactly- I’m going with some protection has to be better than no protection. Sure we teach our kids to be proficient with the leather. Mine plays 3b when not pitching and she will get in your face. She knows how to use the glove....but as mentioned “Stuff happens”. Id feel terrible as a parent if I didn’t feel like I put her in the best reasonable situation to avoid injury.

Ditto.

Kiddo wears a chest protector shirt. Yeah, it's not going to stop much, but it's better than nothing and gives me some comfort. But she's a good fielding pitcher and has yet taken one off anything but her shins.

 

[VAHammer]

When DD was in 10U travel, pitchers getting hit was a common occurrence at every tournament. 35ft, smaller ball, big difference in development and size of girls, and pitchers or teams that throw down the middle is the perfect storm for disaster. Have seen many girls take hard shots to the shins, body, and near misses to the head. Had one girl on our team that was big and athletic for her age and could just crush the ball. She hit multiple pitchers that were removed from the game, one time two in one game. DD got through that period and was only hit once to the upper leg that left a big bruise. Knocked her flat on her back with tears in her eyes, but she was still able to cradled the ball as she went down to get the out. I was worried for her and feel lucky that she got through that period with out worse. Bought her the EVO chest protector but she said it bothered her pitching so she never wore it. Now at 14U I have not really witnessed any pitchers getting hit but I'm sure it still happens on occasion.

 

[MNDad]

If you’re truly concerned about a players heart stopping work with your organization to get an AED for every team and make sure all the coaches know how to use it.

There was a recent chest protector that advertised it was being certified to help prevent Commotio Cordis. Can’t think of the name right now. All of the others, including Evoshield won’t help. They’ll ease the pain from a blow to the chest and maybe that’s all some are looking for.

Commitio Cordis, or the stopping of the heart, is due to the timing of the blow and not the force. As mentioned above, go ahead and put one on your daughter, but do the research to know what exactly it’s protecting against. Same with facemasks. They might be better than nothing, but they’re no substitute for the glove.

 

[djcarter1966]

Coming soon.....

 

[HighStrung]

You can be the greatest defensive fielding player in the world...."STUF" happens. If you're going to get hung up on a safety device not being fully certified by the government or some branch thereof or proven to be 100% effective in every scenario then don't use it. Sure being good with the glove is going to prevent a lot of these types of injuries but c'mon we're talking to a wide variety of ages and abilities on here (and at the ball fields). If your DD is coming up through the ranks and as is often the case, playing up in age or classification what downside is there to wearing a relatively (compared to a bat/glove/etc.) inexpensive, lightweight, unobtrusive piece of protective equipment? Both my girls wore the heartguard type of undershirt in their earlier playing days. Here's an idea... Dads/Coaches, you go stand 35 feet in front of me and let me (or my DD's) hit balls at you day in and day out...even with a cup and a good glove you'll be wishing you had some extra protection.

Exactly, I'll take any ounce of prevention I can get especially with minimal intrusion. Though DD has always got her glove on the handful of bullets that came back at her, I'll error on the side of caution especially at a younger age. First year 12U DD was at a clinic last spring, grades 7-12, and since she was registered as a pitcher that's what she did. Pitched to everyone regardless of their age. When she came back asking how old you have to be to get a tattoo it sank in that she was facing hits from 18+yr old batters from 40ft. Didn't phase her, she got up there and did her job, but that was one time I was really happy she wore it (though no bullets back at her). 2nd yr 12's now, registered for a few 14opens in the next few weeks and I'm sure we'll be facing some pretty big girls. Will it make a difference if she takes one to the chest, maybe not. But will I be able to sleep at night if she did and I didn't have her wearing one...