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| SOFTBALL LINKS |
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Dangerous Game
by Dave
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Tom writes in with a quick story as follows:
"Yesterday we played a 14U game during which our second baseman loaned her game face to our third baseman so she could be protected from her very close position. The second baseman is a good player with fast reflexes and good ball-sense who gets in a good ready position before each pitch and who was playing deep, just in front of the infield grass, about 80 feet from the plate. Our opponent's number 7 batter took a good outside pitch and lined it towards right center. Our 2B reacted quickly but did not get her glove completely up in time. The ball glanced off her glove, struck her square in the face and bounced all the way to the shortstop who caught it in the air and thereby recorded an out. The 2B was taken from the field with her nose gushing blood. Emergency personnel were summoned and took her to the hospital via ambulance.
At the hospital, where she spent the night, it was determined that the girl had suffered a broken nose plus several broken bones around one of her eyes. The girl underwent emergency surgery to reset her nose and take a look at the other breaks. It appears as if her vision will probably come back but, for now, she suffers some double vision. Doctors claim that is to be expected in the short-term though they are still somewhat concerned."
Tom's reason for writing is to encourage everyone in this game, in the strongest terms possible, to use the game face or a similar device (such as the D Mask). Tom knows that many girls playing infield positions refuse to wear these masks because they believe they make them look funny, they may perhaps somewhat obscure their vision, or in some way make them "different" from the other girls on the field. His hope is that if we make these commonplace, most, if not all, girls will wear these things routinely. I have to agree with his reasoning.
Beyond this particular accident, beyond nose and eye socket concerns there is something else I would like you to consider. A very expensive type of injury can also happen on the softbalol diamond involving dental issues.
Some time ago, a friend of mine told me a story about a drill his daughter's team was running either in practice or before a game. His daughter played second base at the time and the drill involved outfield cutoffs. A ball was hit to the rightfielder who fielded it. The 2B went out to get the cutoff but was told by the SS to let it go through to third. The 2B ducked down but the RF hooked the throw and beamed the ball right into the 2B's face, striking her square in the mouth.
The girl went down and was helped from the field spitting a little bit of blood. Her father took her for medical professionals who determined that she did not have any kind of break or damage to any place that had absorbed the blow. I believe that she did not suffer a consussion, a broken jaw, or any permanent damage to teeth. Luckily, she had been wearing a good mouth guard and that apparently had prevented serious injury.
The father, being a normally prudent person, took his daughter to a specialist at a top hospital just to make sure the original diagnosis was correct. There the specialist concurred and noted that had she not been wearing the mouthguard, she most definitely would have had permanent, possibly irreparable damage to both her jaw and teeth.
Lots of girls wear mouthguards though certainly not all. I believe I have seen more infielders and a few outfielders don the gameface and D mask this year. It isn't quite as prevalent as perhaps it will be next year. But the usage of these inexpensive, effective protection devices is growing in our sport.
I've grown a little weary of a common response to discussions regarding safety devices. Most frequently these involve discussion regarding face guards. A few sarcastic individuals make ignorant comments such as "why don't we just put all the girls out there in suits of armor!" That's absurd. These relative few individuals make suggestions like "the boys don't wear these things. Why should the girls?"
One subject which sometimes comes up about this sport is the issue of face masks on batting helmets. I don't wish to addresss this other than to say that foul balls to the face area are pretty common in fastpitch softball. I believe all but the college and international game require such masks and they probably prevent hundreds of potentially serious injuries every year. There's no point in discussing the issue further with anyone who doesn't know that reality.
What seems clear to me is a softball player ought to voluntarily wear a mouth guard when she is in the field. Infielders would be well served if the game decided that a face guard was required for them. Face masks on batting helmets are absolutely necessary and thankfully already required.
When it comes to rulemaking (in sports and other places) which require ever increasing amounts of protective gear, I get anxious. I do not like to be protected by big brother. Yet the same way a catcher is required to wear not just a mask but also a helmet, knee and shin guards, etc., I believe the entire sport ought to mandate batting helmet facemasks and I'm beginning to think that mouth guards for all defensive players and face guards for infielders ought to be a part of the required equipment. You can't play football without a mouth guard because of the concussive force likely to be experienced. The same should probably true on the softball diamond.
Aside from these equipment issues, I would like to bring up one other subject which is probably best targeted at the less experienced, less serious softball player and her parents. I do not believe serious and/or very experienced players need to be told the following. So, if that's you, you can skip the rest of today's class.
Recently I was coaching a 12U game and our team was playing very poorly. By playing very poorly, I don't mean we lost a game or got bumped early out of a tournament. Rather, what I mean is our girls were not making some plays which they have routinely made for months. Ordinary groundballs, with no bad hops, were slipping in between legs; routine flyballs were striking gloves and then finding the ground; and routine throws were being tossed into the stands. We won because some girls hit and because we were playing an inferior team. But our level of play was not particularly encouraging to anyone who has sc hooled these girls in defensive mechanics. Actually, it was rather upsetting and disheartening.
I wasn't sure what I could do to help these girls. I felt we had drilled them pretty hard and taught them well. They were much better than they had played. I wasn't sure what happened. Later, between games, I found out what had happened. I was sitting by myself not too far from where our girls were hanging out, eating their lunches, and overheard a conversation between several girls. Apparently, these girls had held a slumber party the night before. They called it a "sleep-over" but sleep was not an important part of the evening's agenda. One girl mocked another who had fallen asleep by one o'clock. She bragged that she had not gone to sleep until well past four. I had my answer but I was not pleased about it.
More than a month prior to this tournament, one of our coaches had dared to do the unspeakable. he had issued an e-mail suggesting how one might prepare for a tournament. he encouraged the girls to drink lots of fluids the day before a tournament; to eat properly, avoiding candy, ice cream, etc.; and to make sure to get to bed by 9 or, at the latest 10. There was an uproar after that e-mail went out. Several parents wondered where this guy felt he receiuved the right to talk down to them. They wanted to know whether he thought them stupid. They let it be known that they are at least as good of parents as he and do not need ridiculous advice such as this.
Yes, some of those who complained about the condescension were involved in the slumber party. They also were among the folks who made inquiries as to why their children were not listed in the lineup cards as playing infield after making errors in the early games.
Let me be clear about one thing and that is sleep deprivation has some impact on a player's ability to play this game. I can't quantify the effect. Studies have sometimes resulted in contrary findings. But I don't think anyone believes even for a millisecond that getting no sleep the night before the game is just OK. I don't believe anyone thinks that any player will do as well with less sleep than she would with more.
There is some debate as to whether sleep deprivation constitutes torture at Guantanamo Bay detention center. I do not wish to enter that debate in this particular forum. What I will tell you is those who are against it argue that it does result in responses similar to what alcohol consumption does - greatly reduced reaction speed, possibly causes permanent reduction to higher level function, but definitely causes short-term reduced function on normal, mundane tasks. I don't know whether you can claim it is torture or with any certainty causes permanent brain injury (or maybe I better go seek medical help immediately - as a result of having been a parent!). But there's no question that a sleep deprived kid will have a greater tendency to miss easy groundballs, strike out against pitchers she usually hits hard, etc. And where I'm going with this is, I wonder what this says about the risks incurred by the no-mouth-guard, no-game-face, sleep-deprived infielder or pitcher.
Recently, my 14U daughter got very angry with my wife and me. She was angry because we flat out denied her request to "sleep over" at her teammates house on a Saturday night of a three day tournament. The girl sponsoring the "sleep-over" is the manager's daughter and team's only viable catcher. She may have to catch 5 or more games (doubtful that we'll play more than 5 given the circumstances!) over 3 days in what is expected to be 90 degree, humid weather. Our games are scheduled for the hottest parts of the day. Another girl who will be "sleeping" over is our third baseman who routinely positions herself 45 feet from home, 30 and charging in bunt situations, but wears no protective devices. My daughter will likely see a lot of time in the circle. And in our preliminary games, we will be facing some of the best hitting teams around.
I'm going to leave now so I can go pray for the remainder of the day that nobody gets injured. You go do whatever you like.
Follow-up:
Tom read the above piece and wrote in to correct me as follows:
"You are NOT right about ALL the national organizations requiring face masks
on batting helmets. Little League does not require this proven safety device
to be on batting helmets. They also do not require chin straps to keep the
helmet on the players head. They announced their intention of doing so over
a decade ago and most leagues have converted but they never made it mandatory. I have no idea why they have not done so except for the faces not showing up
well on TV; it can't be concern for player's safety."Labels: coaching, parents, players, safety, Tournaments
 
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