Mask saves pitcher from line drive.

[DonnieS]

>> Step up and be the adult and make that choice for your child. Again I'm not an advocate for "mandated" use of a mask, just an advocate for making the best choices <<

When you played, how was it? Do you remember when you were playing fast pitch and you had balls shot at you? My dd has played 700 more games of fastpitch than I have - has faced a lot of strong hitters - has caught many line drives in front of her. Her opinion is that she wants to have unimpeded vision of what is coming at her and the mask obstructs her vision at pitcher. She has been told she will play 3rd next year and she already has the mask that she is going to use at 3rd.

[Tucson]

Donnie, I wear a mask on the bucket - but I don't have experience wearing it in the field. Gameface is so comfortable to me, that I forget that I have it on. I think you just have to get used to it, like the girls have with the mask on their helmets.

I know what the college girls are doing. I do see more and more wearing the cage on their helmet, though. The one that is wearing one here in Tucson, put it on her helmet "after" she was seriously injured. I think she is from Texas.

NO - that is a joke and probably a poor one.

Look at how football helmets and the face guards have evolved, from leather and no face guard, to what they wear now. I never hear those guys say, "Oh, I couldn't see."

I would love to see Cat, etc. wear a Gameface or similar. All the little girls would follow her lead.

I am glad the OP's DD is OK. That is a positive.

[DonnieS]

What I imagine is going to happen is she will wear it at 3rd and get comfortable - then start wearing it in the cirlce.

[lovesfastpitch]

A friends of mines daughter took a line drive to the face. She was extremely lucky to come out of that with only a broken nose. When she went to see a specialist he told her she was really lucky because she had a straight break, no surgery required. While they were in the waiting room, another HS pitcher from a different school came in. She wasn't as lucky, her break was like a zig zag and required surgery. Our friends daughter was such a great pitcher and probably could have went on to play at the college level, but mentally it was extremely hard for her to get back on the mound. Anytime the ball even came in her directions she freaked and couldn't hardly make a play. It was awful to see such a great kid with alot of promise not be able to perform.

A couple of years ago the 2nd baseman, 3rd baseman & SS had a runner in a pickle between 2nd & 3rd. As one of the girls threw the ball back to the 2nd baseman, the ball bounced off the runners helmet, hit the 2nd basemen in the mouth. Although they tried to save her front teeth, over the next few months she would loose them.

Both of these could have been avoided with a face mask!!

[Coolearl]

I bought a Gameface for my daughter last spring. She's a pitcher/SS. We fought about wearing it and she won temporarily. She didn't want to change midseason. She finally tried it at SS in a game when Fall season started. The first game she had it on she got a bad hop on a hard grounder. It smacked her right in the face. She picked it up and made the out at first. No big deal...no dental work! Now she loves it.

[NewCoach]

In the early 90s I was am EMT in an area that had many summer camps for teens and pre teens. I can remember at least six times being called out to these camps to treat and transport kids that had been hit in the face. Broken noses are easy, fractured eye orbits, shattered jaws, and teeth knocked through the lips are nasty injuries. Some I am sure were never fully recoverable, disfigured for life in a split second.

Last year my DD joined an 8u league, which surprised me because she has always been a girly girl. I went out and bought her a glove, bat, helmet, and a game face and started playing catch with her before her first practice. I knew she wouldnt play the infield without the mask, but she was resistant. The first time she missed a ball tossed by me, and struck her cheek, she decided the mask was a good idea.

Bottom line is, I spend 1000's/yr for health insurance but the mask is the cheapest supplemental policy I could buy, and DD's confidence was increased tremendously.

[anonlooker]

Last year my DD took a bad hop off her chin. It swelled to the size of a softball and you could see the stitching from the ball for about a month. We all called her Frankenjaw.

A bit later I notice she is pulling her head out just a bit on hard hit grounders. We discuss it, she says she knows she's doiing it, trying not to but it's like reflex, so we talk about the Game Face, go buy one, a week later she takes a shot off the mask, looks over at me and smiles. Teeth intact. Cool.

But proof that nothing is perfect, 2 weeks ago DD at SS, bullet hit between 3rd and SS, DD dives to her right, 3B dives to her left. DD's head turns to follow the trajectory of the ball into her glove, but ball deflects off 3B's glove and hits DD in the side of her head. A few tears, a bag of ice, the inevitable joke about wearing full catcher's gear next time out, and all is well.

She's glad she wears it, plays the game fearlessly, and we recommend it (esp. for P) - but don't feel it should be mandated. Tho i imagine the manufacturer is lobbying hard.

[Kat]

[quote="Tucson"]Why would you choose not to have your kid wear a mask? It is a choice between her throwing the next pitch or calling an ambulance.

I agree that I would not have my dd pitch without one....but I do still believe in having the choice.

[sm_ball]

Just wondering who out there has tried both mask?
Trying to choose between the Gameface or Defender mask ?
DD 12u likes the way the Defender mask looks because of the smoked color appearance & the fact that you can choose padding colors. Just worried that the single strap on the defender wont stay secure on her small head, anybody have this problem?
Dont need it to become a distraction during the game.
Any help would be much appreciated.

[bucketdad96]

My DD has worn the Gameface mask for the past 2 years. Switched to the Defender this year for the same reasons you mentioned ("and it looks cool" ). She was wearing the Defender when she took the line drive off it . She handles the strap positioning with placement of her pony tail and that seems to work just fine.