There is a push recently to require the Jaw Guard on Little league helmets.
Should we require them at the youth baseball level?
What is your opinion?
The Jaw Guard, also called a C-Flap which is just one brand of Jaw Guard, has become
more common in Major League baseball and in 2018 we saw a lot of them at the LLWS as well.
But should they be required?
Before I share my opinion on the issue, here are three clips of LLWS players getting hit
by a pitch in the face.
The clips are from 2006, 2012, and 2018.
I am not sure, but it might be wise to be cautious in 2024 as these apparently are happening
every six years?
My first suggestion is to see a professional coach...like this guy.
In the 2006 clip, the Jaw Guard wouldn't have worked as the batter turned so far that the
ball hit him in a way the guard wouldn’t have helped.
So that leaves us with two clips of youth players getting hit in the jaw or face on
a pitched ball.
But wait, there is more.
Here are bunt attempts that resulted in hits to the face.
On these bunt fouls to the face, the jaw guard likely wouldn’t have helped.
So what are we saying?
We need to require every youth baseball player to invest in a Jaw Guard now because after
literally thousands of games, we can only find two batters hit where a Jaw Guard would
have helped?
I’m sure the makers of these devices would love to make the issue seem far worse than
it is.
But in reality, hits to the face are so remarkably rare that it’s nearly impossible to find
footage of them.
And in 2019, with nearly every baseball game played anywhere in the world being recorded
we still have a remarkably low number of hit by pitches to the face.
I mean really, if we followed the advice of some we would never have gotten the Scott
Sterling videos!
My opinion.
If you coach youth baseball you know which players lack that ability to avoid a hit by
pitch.
Those players that turn the wrong way to avoid a hit by pitch and those that bunt more often.
Those are the players you should tell to get a jaw guard, or even better, the wire face
guard.
But not every baseball player needs to wear this device.
Seriously, if safety was the most important thing we wouldn’t play any sport.
While we do want our players playing safe, we can’t avoid every possible injury.
They’re going to be a part of the game.
Don’t forget, it wasn’t that long ago that helmets were not even required.
It wasn’t until 1954 that Little League required them, and the MLB was a few years
later.
We keep this up and kids are soon going to dress like a football player just to hit a
baseball.