At a vey young age our ball players had to knock on their cup so the coach could hear it. No cup no play.Last year my son was playing elite ball and he wass having a no hitter in the 4th. A line stop right at his family jewels that he had a fraction of a second to block. He was just able to deflect it with the back of his unopened glove, right between the uprights. Even with a cup he would have been one sore kid. He went on to throw a 1 hitter shutout.