Mask Watch
- Thread starter knightsb
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I feel masks promote confidence in the early stages. Confidence is fragile at any age and this game is a game of failure. Play/coach the game in a manner that helps your player reach their potential and stop caring about what other people think. Maybe Major Leaguers should stop wearing leg guards when hitting and this will be a harsh reminder not to mis-hit the ball. These types of examples are as dumb as the Georgetown coach's view on masks. On the flip side, I'm not telling every smoker I see that its bad for their health.
Our experiences often shape our views and I could bore you with a few that's shaped mine, but won't. I've learned from the mistakes and misfortunes of others as well as getting a PhD from Hard Knocks University. I "encourage" all my players to wear masks. I conclude that the real issue is the bullying type stance a few have on this topic...mainly influential college coaches and those holding the keys to scholarships.
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Our experiences often shape our views and I could bore you with a few that's shaped mine, but won't. I've learned from the mistakes and misfortunes of others as well as getting a PhD from Hard Knocks University. I "encourage" all my players to wear masks. I conclude that the real issue is the bullying type stance a few have on this topic...mainly influential college coaches and those holding the keys to scholarships.
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- Nov 18, 2013
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This has flipped over the last several years. There are very few coaches/players/parents that are still against masks. Most parents of older kids seem to think they should be optional. Most of younger younger ones would like pitchers and corners want their kids to wear. A good portion would add middle infielders and a few want them on all of the kids. The only bullying I see these days comes from those who want them mandated.
After wearing a mask for nearly 10 years, DD has decided to not wear it anymore. It concerns DW and I, but she is 19, and we trust her judgement. No one on her college team wears a mask, but we have seen several opponents wearing them. If I had to guess, I would estimate 30% of the pitchers and maybe 15% of the corner infielders. What scares and surprises me even more is the number of players that don't wear a mask on their batting helmet. It's not a huge number, but that isn't something I would want to do. Just this past week we saw a player foul one off that deflected up into that mask. She immediately fell to the ground. When the coach and trainer came to check on her we could hear her say "it just scared me". But I would hate to see what would have happened if she wasn't wearing it.
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- Jul 5, 2016
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One name: Paige Lowary
- Nov 18, 2013
- 2,258
- 113
You numbers look about right. Most of the teams we face have at least one pitcher in a mask. Occasionally 3B will wear one and rarely anybody else. I asked my daughter if college players or coaches talk bad about girls wearing a mask and she hadn’t ever heard anyone.
For the batting helmet masks it always feels like most take them off in college. Maybe they just stand out more because I’m not used to it. I saw Texas Tech this weekend and they all work helmet masks to hit and would switch to one without a mask as soon as they got on base. Maybe other schools do this too and I just haven’t noticed. I have no idea why they do it.
- Jul 5, 2016
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I watched a bit of men's slow-pitch on Saturday. The pitchers wore helmets and shin guards. The batters were crushing the ball and there were, apparently, few restrictions on the bats they could use.
My daughter (frosh in HS) has never come to me over all her years of playing IF and said "I couldn't make that play because I was wearing a face mask." She is committed to D1 and has repeatedly said she will wear her mask and doesn't care what anyone says to her. I think we will continue to see an increase in face masks worn at the highest levels as each year goes by and the girls who have worn them since day 1 age up.
- Jul 5, 2016
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Nowadays, I would think that if a mask prevents a coach from seeing the talent behind the mask, I wouldn't want my daughter playing for that coach. I would think it would even build confidence if an infielder knows they can play the ball off of their mask without serious harm if it takes a funny bounce.
