Bottom line...the hockey style mask stays on all the time, INCLUDING POPUPS! The vision in these things is good enough that there is no reason to take them off.
leave it on.if the throw is short and you have to go out for it then they can still run you over.its not worth a broken nose or losing teeth to make a play.youre a lot safer to just leave it on.
I guess its personal prefrence but I always take it off when ever theres a play in the field because even though some masks are designed pretty good there is always some blind spots and if you take the mask off then you take away the possibility of the ball going into your blind spot when a ball is coming in from the field somewhere
I made the mistake of taking off my mask on a play at the plate. We have a fieldturf infield and the ball coming from centerfield took a funny bounce when it hit the edge of the fieldturf and the start of the dirt around home plate. I was not able to react quick enough and the ball ended up hitting me in the left eye. I missed two weeks of games and then ended up losing my starting spot for the season after my replacement starting lighting up opposing teams when he got the chance to play. I will never take my mask off again!!
keep it on, if the mask doesnt interfere with you catching pitches, it wont when you are receiving throws from other fielders. the mask is like a cup, itll make you much more confident, as funny as it sounds, its true.
I never liked keeping the mask on during a play at the plate----I simple felt it impaired my vision of what was going on with the play
I myself keep my mask on. I don't really feel like it impairs my vision at all really. Usually I make about every play at the plate too, sometimes because I feel more confident with it on and knowing I won't be nailed in the face on a bad bounce.
Mask on.
Isn't the purpose of a mask for protection?
