I just took a LD to the face mask.

[Amy in AZ.]

I had a brand new hitting student this morning. She is 11. Her mother said that she was going to lessons, but can't hit the ball out of the IF. She has a brand new 32 inch CF4.

So, we worked on the tee a little bit, tweeked some stuff here and there.

And generally, just gave her a pep talk.

I had her go to the plate and I stood in front of her tossing those TCB balls.

I had talked to her and her mom about my Gameface and they said that she is on 2 teams and they aren't seeing anyone wear one.

So, I told her that I like to end using real softballs. I was pitching. She started hitting better and better and next thing I knew a LD hit me in the mask, just like a rocket. I must have turned my head slightly because it knocked the mask off my face to the right.

Holy cow. You should have seen the look on her face. I would have liked to seen the look on mine.

 

[SoCalDad]

At all-star tryouts on Saturday the tryout coordinator didn't setup the safety net in front of the pitching machine since we start with the 8U. By the time the 14U batters came up he let his guard down. First batter, second pitch, comebacker missing his head by less than an inch. Net went up really fast.

 

[Comp]

Nets dont always save you. Daughter in batting cage, Im feeding the pitching machine. Full nets across whole cage, pitching machine is throwing through a hole in net about 10" across. Im kicked back in chair, foot up on leg of pitching machine feeding balls. Daughter drives one right back through the hole, ricocheted off the wheels and caught me square in a not so comfortable spot.

 

[CoachKevin]

Nets dont always save you. Daughter in batting cage, Im feeding the pitching machine. Full nets across whole cage, pitching machine is throwing through a hole in net about 10" across. Im kicked back in chair, foot up on leg of pitching machine feeding balls. Daughter drives one right back through the hole, ricocheted off the wheels and caught me square in a not so comfortable spot.

That was funny. Sometimes nets gives you that false sense of security. I had bought 2 clearance sale screens from Joes during their going out of business sale. Both were $70 dollar screens for $7.00 so I couldn't pass it up. These screens have a large opening on 1 side to throw through. Well yup, pitching in the cage with a 14U team... line drive so fast I couldn't get away from the opening. Luckily I was able to turn my back to it. Hit me square on the spine mid back. That left a mark!

 

[Jojo]

Good thing for that mask!

I was at a tournament once ---16U--- walked by a batting cage and saw a coach literally standing 15' in front of the batters giving them soft toss.
I did a double take because I couldn't believe he was actually thinking his reaction time was that great.

I seriously wasn't surprised when a few minutes later the ambulance showed up. I was told he took a liner to the head and hadn't regained consciousness before going into the ambulance.

 

[RichK]

My daughter's hitting coach likes to do very controlled front toss behind a net at about ten feet, full windmill and deliver a slow but location-specific front toss. My daughter loves working this drill.

One time, I went into the same cage/net with her and I tried to do the same thing but I ended up leaning my head against the net and taking one in the noggin!

Another reason to pay for a hitting coach : >

 

[Ken Krause]

Unless there's a net, I won't throw anything harder than a wiffle ball from the front. I have pretty quick reaction times, but we all like to over-estimate how good we are. No sense being a fool about it.

 

[Amy in AZ.]

I have spent today thinking about it.

I actually am lucky that it hit where it did. I suppose anywhere else could have killed me. I don't know what I was thinking. I had lite flites with me.

A have phoned GameFace to see if I need to replace the mask, since it took a blow to the plastic. I left a message.

Jugs looked like they might have some nets that would work for my purpose, but I think that I will just use lite flites from now on.

Also, I am thinking of wearing a catcher's helmet or lacross helmet. I wear a mask 100% of the time, but no helmet.

 

[Rambler34]

Wiffle balls are not always the answer. I coach 6U and would pitch from about 15 feet to help them start learning to hit live pitching. They will leave the little dots on your cheek when they hit you.

 

[Amy in AZ.]

Well, no call back from GameFace, so I am not happy.

I have a Defender, but it is so small it can fit inside the GameFace. They aren't identical.