Baseball Chest Protector for Girl's softball?
- Thread starter Josh Greer
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Just to kind of put this thread to a close, here's a shot of my daughter working out with the new chest protector (we will slowly migrate over to blue..until then, red blue red). She loves it. Still having to get her to trust the gear, but she is making great strides. Thanks all for the discussion
BucketLover
BucketLover
I'm in the market for one as well, how tall is your DD?
Yes. And while some disagree, I have kind of forced this on her. My son's catching coach trained him that way, and she has already been thumped in the hands a couple times with her hand up. The catching coach feels that with proper pop mechanics, there is plenty of time to get the hand in the proper position. Again, I'm sure this topic is up for debate; but not in my house. ;-)
She is a 13 year old and is 5' 4-1/2" tall; and is kind of "leggy". This is the intermediate size and seems to fit her well. The youth size (that her 12 year old brother has) is an 1" shorter.
(double post...sorry)
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Greenmonsters
Wannabe Duck Boat Owner
No reason not to break out a stop watch and deal with hard cold numbers and make an informed decision rather than rely on something someone tells you. In 11 years of catching, my DD hasn't been hit in the throwing hand in the runners-on position taught by NECC. IMO, your DD is just incredibly unlucky or was taught poorly. It's your house though!
If this is how she has been trained, and this is what you're comfortable with, that's fine. It is your house.
That said, let me throw this out there for you to ponder, or other readers to consider...
While blocking from a "runners-on" position (which is the only time you need to block), having the hand behind the thigh requires the hand to travel through a lot of unprotected space to get behind the glove as it goes to the ground. To me, this is a serious safety concern. If the catcher starts with the throwing hand tucked behind the glove in the stance, the hand can stay protected behind the glove while executing the block.
(Image from Chaz's FB page)
While receiving in the "runners-on" position, the throwing hand is pulled back to the chest protector directly behind the glove. In this position, the hand stays protected by being in the "shadow" of the glove.
In a "no-runners" stance, behind the leg is the right place for the throwing hand to be.
