Acceptability of baseball face guards and reduction of oculofacial injury in receptive youth league players.

The goal of this research was to assess the relative injury reduction effect and acceptability of face guards on batter's helmets. Coaches, parents and players in Indiana baseball youth leagues were asked to respond to pre-season and post-season questionnaires. Approximately one half of the teams were supplied with face guard helmets (intervention); all others used this protection at their discretion (comparison). Parents, players and coaches on the intervention teams reported a reduction in the incidence of oculofacial injuries compared with comparison team respondents. There was no reported adverse effect of face guard use on player performance. In conclusion, helmet face guards should be required for batters to prevent facial injuries in baseball. n.b. Although this study is form the USA and focuses on the game of baseball, the evidence will be basically transferable to bat and ball games common in New Zealand such as cricket and softball.