I agree with redbird. I caught my entire career through the college level. In fact, my career ended with a collision at home plate (herniated disk, broken ankle). College baseball changed the rules the following year. I never caught with the hockey mask but I would definitely say to never take it off. The old style had a wide enough bar to give you a blind spot. Collisions still happen. Taking it off was an advantage back then. I took mine off and made sure I threw it right in front of the right hander's batters box. This was to make the runner slide around it or slow down to get around it. When you were fixing to get smoked at homeplate, you did everything you could to slow those runners down.