My soon-to-be 13 year old son has been wearing nutty buddy cups since he was 8. Sadly, they have been unavailable since March '18, with no sign of being back any time soon, and he really needs a new one. Any cup brand recommendations? I saw that "Nutshellz" are popular with pros, but they are also crazy expensive ($100!!??). Thanks in advance for your help.
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My son has used XO cups for a while. They're cheap but he's been catching for 10 years, and taken quite a few direct hits, without significant issues. Shock Doctor also looks to be fairly decent but I don't have firsthand experience with them.
My kid 2019 catcher likes the shock doctor cup the best
2022NYC posted:My kid switched from the nuttybuddy to shock doctor last year as the the NB tail end nearly "impaled" him during a head first dive. The SD cup failed on a missed foul tip but I suspect all cups would have failed on a skipper like that.
I’ll admit that’s hard to watch. Everyone knows that catcher’s take a beating but when they drop like a sniper shot them, you know it hurts.
So many foul balls go off the arm or some part of the body that would stop the game for any other position player to get checked out. Often times, the catcher just ignores it and throws the ball back to the pitcher.
My son has had his share of “cup shots” behind the dish. I would say I feel your pain but that wouldn’t do it justice. I hope he was able to regroup and finish off the game.
Mine uses ShockDoctor, BTW.
Time for my son to get a bigger size. He's been using Nutty Buddy also. I also noticed that I can only get it direct from Nutty Buddy now (can't find it in other place). Wondering if that is still the best option or it's unavailability from other vendors means it's falling out of favor. If so, what is the best option out there? Shock Doctor? Some other brand?
Son (15, C) has been using Shock Doctor for 3 years now and likes it just fine. He used to use the slider w/ a cup, but around 16 mos ago changed it up. He now uses a jock strap w/ cup (integrated cup or slide/in) and then wears sliders over that. He says he gets better protection, as the sliders moved the cup out of position most of the time, but the jock doesn’t.
He does say the integrated cup jock from SD brand chafes more than the slide-in. But YSMMV.
My son is now 20 and uses the Nutty Buddy, probably for 5-6 years now. He plays summer wood bat baseball and otherwise is enjoying life at Virginia Tech.