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Softball and Baseball Related Facial Injuries and Protective Gear

Nicole Shedd

Methods

Participants

For this research study, a total of 50 baseball and softball players were chosen to fill

out surveys regarding facial injuries. Out of the 50 participants, 45 surveys were completed

and returned. Of these participants, 43 were female softball players and the remaining 2 were

male baseball players. These individuals ranged in skill level of their sport from high school

to professional softball and baseball players. The range of age was 18 years old to 33 years

old with the most common age ranging from 20 to 22 years old. Of the 45 participants, a

majority of 35 identified themselves as White/Caucasian. The remaining 10 participants

identified as Black/African American (3) or Latina/Hispanic (7). All participation voluntarily

decided to take the survey and were informed on the reason for the survey and told that their

answers would remain anonymous.

Instrument

Before the participants took the survey, the athletes were given an adult consent form

that they had to sign to be abled to take part in the survey. The consent from allowed the

researcher the ability to use the participants answers in the survey. The consent form included

the researchers name, the title of the project, and a brief note stating the nature of the project.

This note included telling the participants of the possible risks involved with taking the

survey and that the participant would withdraw from the study. After the participant read the

consent form, they gave their name, their address, and the date then signed the form. Also,

when handed the instrument the participant was notified that was completely voluntary to

participate in the study and that their answers would be kept anonymous.
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Softball and Baseball Related Facial Injuries and Protective Gear

The Adult Consent Form:

Houston Baptist University

ADULT SUBJECT CONSENT FORM

Primary Investigator: Nicole Shedd

Student Researcher(s): N/A
Title of Project: Advanced Athletes and Serious Facial Injuries

I acknowledge that on (____), I was informed by (Nicole Shedd) of Houston Baptist University School of
Nursing and Allied Health of a project having to do with the following: The investigation of the possible
correlation of facial injuries occurring through the different levels of play in softball. I am fully aware of the
nature and extent of my participation in this project and the possible risks involved or arising from it. I
understand that I may withdraw my participation in this project at any time without prejudice or penalty of
any kind. I hereby agree to participate in the project.

Printed name: ____________________________________________________________

Signature: _______________________________________________________________

Address: ________________________________________________________________

Date: _____________________

* Subject should sign two copies of this form. Keep one copy and return the other to the investigator.

The instrument used in this research study was a survey that consisted of 12 questions

that dealt with facial injuries that may have occurred throughout the baseball and softball
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Softball and Baseball Related Facial Injuries and Protective Gear
players careers. The beginning of the survey asked characteristics of the participants. The

questions regarding nationality and age allowed the researcher to be able to group the

participants by shared characteristics. The participants were also grouped by their answers for

the questions regarding what is their primary sport and how they played their primary sport.

The choice for primary sport were only between softball and baseball because the research

project was limited to only softball and baseball players.

The rest of the survey asked how they have played their sport and if/when they

received a facial injury in their career. If the participants had received facial injury in their

career, the participants were then asked when it occurred, how it happened, the time it took

them to return to play and what level of play the injury occurred. The participants could

answer these questions by writing their answer in. However, for the question regarding their

level of play, the athletes had the options of circling: recreational, high school,

university/college, semi-professional, professional, international, or international and

professional. This question was to help the researcher to find possible correlations between

level of play and the number of facial injuries that happen. The final question of the survey

asked the participants about the facial injuries received by their teammates. This question was

for the researcher to collect more data on facial injuries outside of the individuals personal

experiences.
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Softball and Baseball Related Facial Injuries and Protective Gear
The Instrument:

The Instrument: Sports-Related Facial Injuries and Protective Gear Survey

1. What is your nationality?
2. What is your gender?
3. How old are you? (You need to have parental consent if younger than 18 years old to participate in
this survey).
4. What is your primary sport?
5. How many years have you played your sport? (e.g., 5.5 years)
6. Have you ever received a facial injury playing this sport? (i.e., a broken nose)
7. At the time of your injury, what state did you live in?
8. How long ago did your facial injury happen? (i.e., 6 months ago)
9. How long did it take you to return to play after your facial injury? (i.e., if you returned
immediately to game play and did not sit out)
10. How did your facial injury happen?
11. At the time of your facial injury, what was your playing level?
Recreational
High School
University
Semi professional
Professional
International
International and professional
12. Have you ever seen a teammate receive a facial injury?
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Softball and Baseball Related Facial Injuries and Protective Gear
Procedures

The data for this research study was obtained by various methods. For this study, the

participants must have participated in either baseball or softball and at least 18 years old. The

first method used by the researcher was by contacting members of a softball team for a

private, division I university in Texas. The researcher collected 9 surveys from this softball

team. Of the 9 surveys, 2 were collected by meeting the athlete at an off-campus location

after discussing the survey with them through text messages. The next 4 were collected by

meeting the athletes on campus of the private, division I university. Each of these surveys

were given to the softball player and taken within 10 minutes. These surveys took place

throughout the week of July 17th.

One survey out of the 45 surveys was received by a post on the social media,

Facebook. The post was made by the researcher as a status update on Facebook on July 22nd.

The post requested baseball and softball players that were friends of the researcher to be apart

of the research study. If the baseball and softball player decided to take the survey, they had

to message the researcher on Facebook Messenger. The researcher would then send the

documents containing the consent form and the survey questions. The participant would send

back their consent form and their answers to the researcher through a message on Facebook

Messenger.

The Facebook Post:

The Facebook Post:

Calling all softball and baseball players! I need people to take my survey for my research class
this summer. If you would like to take it, please Facebook message me. And dont worry, your
answers will be kept anonymous!
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Softball and Baseball Related Facial Injuries and Protective Gear

The next 6 surveys were given at a Bachelorette party that took place July 20 th- July

22nd. The researcher met the 6 softball players at Conan, Texas and asked them how many of

them played softball at the high school or college level. Out of the 13 females that attended the

bachelorette party, 6 females were eligible to participate in the survey. The researcher informed

the participants about the purpose of the survey, that their answers would be kept anonymous

then handed the surveys. The surveys were handed out and the participants took the survey in

a span of 10 minutes.

The most participants were drawn from a professional softball organization in Texas on

July 23rd. Out of the 30 possible participants, 19 people participated in the survey. The

researcher arrived at the playing venue for the team and distributed the surveys to the players

and the interns that have played softball players. The researcher informed the participants that

the project was on facial injuries in softball and baseball, completely voluntary, and that their

answers would be kept anonymous. The participants took the survey and returned it to the

researcher within 15 minutes.

The remaining number of surveys were completed through text messages and phone

calls directed to softball and baseball players. Out of the 45 completed surveys, 3 of the surveys

were conducted over the phone and 8 of the surveys were conducted over text messages

between the researcher and the participants. The participants were first asked if they wanted to

participate in the study the researcher was conducted. If the participant responded and

consented to being a part of the study, then the participant was sent the survey electronically if

it was over text message. If the participant had their survey conducted over the phone, the

researcher received their consent verbally and the questions of the survey were asked over the
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Softball and Baseball Related Facial Injuries and Protective Gear
phone. Their answers were then written down for the participant. These surveys were taken

over a span of the week, July 17th-23rd.

After all the surveys were completed and turned in, the researcher tore off the consent

forms of the surveys to keep the answers separate from the names of the participants. Once the

researcher took these steps to aid with anonymity of the results, the researcher started compiling

the data from the survey. The data was then sorted into the answers that matched the questions

in the survey. The compiling of the data took place on July 24th.

Design and Analysis

The instrument was designed to find out about the facial injuries that can occur

throughout different levels of baseball and softball. Therefore because of the chance a minor

would need to take the survey, the survey had to be worded in a way that would make sense to

a 12-year-old as well as a 30-year-old. The questions were kept simple and any possible

vocabulary that could have been difficult to understand by a younger population. Also, a

majority of the question were short answer questions to avoid confusion of their answers not

fitting into the options given by the researcher.

The participants were chosen through networks that the researcher was connected to.

The participants were individuals who voluntarily decided to take the survey. While the

instrument was designed for youth and baseball players, the researcher was unable to have any

participants under the age of 18 complete the survey. Therefore, the researcher chose softball

and baseball players that were at least the age of 18. The researcher designed the instrument

this way so that the participants would have a minimum of 8 years. With a minimum of 8 years,

the researcher hypothesized that the chance of a facial injury had occurred during their career

was high. This meaning the longer the athlete played, the more likely the athlete received a

facial injury. This cause and effect led the researcher to ask questions about the length of time
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the athlete has played their sport and if they ever had a facial injury. If the participant had

received a facial injury, the rest of the survey was on the details of the facial injury. This

included how the facial injury occurred, when the facial injury occurred, and how long the

recovery time was. This was designed this way so that the researcher could find correlations

between level of play and cause of injury. Also, to find out the severity of the facial injuries

based off the return to play time.

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Softball and Baseball Related Facial Injuries and Protective Gear
Results

The results of the survey given to the 45 participants were classified by whether the

athlete received a facial injury during their career as a baseball or softball player or whether

they have never received a facial injury. The following results were found through the survey

questions about Sport-Related Facial Injuries and Protective Gear Survey.

Before the athletes were asked about their facial injury, the athletes shared their age

and how long they have played their sport, baseball or softball. The ages ranged from 18

years old to 33 years old. The years played of their sport ranged from 8 years to 28 years. The

years played by the athletes ranged from 8 years to 28 years. The most common years played

was 12-17 years, having played the sports for that many years were the athletes that played at

least the college level.

Age of Participants
9

6
# of participants

0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
The Age of Participants
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Softball and Baseball Related Facial Injuries and Protective Gear
Of the 45 surveys, 17 participants had received some type of facial injury during their

athletic career. The other 28 participants reported that they never received a facial injury. The

17 participants with facial injuries were then divided by the reason their facial injuries

occurred. The reasons for facial injury were contact with a teammate/opponent, contact with

the ball, and contact with equipment. Contact with equipment accounts for bats, fences,

helmets, and any other equipment in the game. Players that had multiple facial injuries, both

reasons for their injury was recorded in the research. The numbers were 5 participants had

contact with a player, 12 participants had contact with a ball, and 2 participants had contact

with equipment.

Reasons Why Facial Injuries Occurred

Contact w/ player Contact w/ ball Contact w/ equipment

The facial injuries were then organized by what level the injury occurred. The level

options the athletes were given were recreational, high school, university/college, semi-

professional, professional, international, and international/professional. Of these options, the

participants only recorded recreational, high school, college, and professional. Out of all the

levels, the college level reported the most facial injuries with 8 out of 15. While professional
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Softball and Baseball Related Facial Injuries and Protective Gear
and recreational levels, reported only 3 out of 15 facial injuries. Therefore, it could be

concluded that at least half of the athletes that made to the college level have received a facial

injury.

Level of Play Injuries Occurred In

Recreational High School College Professional

Along with level of play and reason injury occurred, the participants were also asked

how long the athletes took to return to play. This question was a short answer question and

could be answered by any time. The answers were broken down by immediate return to play,

days, weeks, and months. Many of the athletes stated that they immediately returned to play

after their injury. So, while injuries seemed to be occurring often, most athletes could return to

play immediately without issues disrupting game play. The results were that 6 participants
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immediately returned to play, 3 participants returned after 1-3 days, 3 returned in a matter of

weeks, 2 participants returned to play after 1-4 months.

While the number of facial injuries that occurred was below 50%, the statistic of athletes

that have seen one of their teammates/opponents receive a facial injury was very high. Of the

45 participants that took part of the survey, 40 participants answered yes to seeing someone

receive a facial injury during their career as a softball or baseball player. Consequently, if an

athlete did not receive a facial injury during their career, there is an 89% chance of the athlete

seeing a facial injury. Therefore, making the occurrence of facial injuries a common occurrence

in softball or baseball for the athletes. If facial injuries that common in this world of sport, the

question of whether protective gear should be mandated to wear during game play or solely be

the choice of the individual player.

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Softball and Baseball Related Facial Injuries and Protective Gear
Discussion

In the problem statement, it was stated that with todays technology in bat technology

and finding better ways to pitch faster and harder has caused the game of softball and baseball

to change. This shift in the game has potentially made the game more dangerous for the athletes

over time and injuries are occurring in the later in athletes careers. When one would expect

athletes would receive their injury earlier in their career due to lack of skill and knowledge of

their sport. However, according to the surveys, it was reported that most of facial injuries

occurred at the college level as seen in the Level of Play Injuries Occurred in Table. In the pie

chart, it shows that 8 out 17 athletes received a facial injury in their college career. However,

this number is skewed because of the 45 participants in the survey, only 17 athletes reported

that they received facial injuries.

Another notable statistic was the number of injuries that occurred because of contact

with a ball. Out of the 19 facial injuries, 12 of the facial injuries occurred by contact with the

ball. While the remaining 7 injuries were caused by contact with either equipment in the game

or teammates/opponents. Softball and baseball are projectile sports so it is assumed that more

injuries would be caused by softballs and baseballs in the field of play as proved by the results

of the survey. It would also be assumed that college athletes have received proper training to

play the game at such a high level. So why are there still facial injuries occurring at the college

level. In every sport, there is a factor of unpredictability during game play. Athletes can not

predict a bad hop, a hard hit, sunlight, or anything else that can lead to a possible facial injury

in the game. Therefore, softball and baseball players must be equipped for every situation by

being properly trained and considering the possibility of wearing a face mask to handle the

moments of unpredictability in the game. This can be tied to the Literature previously reviewed
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in the essay where other researchers believe that giving the athletes some form of facial

protection like a mouth guard or the face mask.

In the survey, there were 28 athletes that stated they had never received a facial injury

while playing softball or baseball. However, 40 participants out of the 45 surveys stated that

they have seen a fellow teammate or an opponent receive a facial injury during game play. This

is significant because it considers that facial injuries are still happening even if they had not

happened to the people that participated in the study. So, with most athletes in this study

received their facial injury in during their college level, there is a high possibility that the facial

injuries the athletes witnessed also occurred at the same level. It also significant because if

athletes are witnessing their teammates or opponents receive a facial injury could cause the

athletes to take measures to avoid the same type of injury. While some measures like using

protective gear to avoid a facial injury benefits some athletes, the athletes that chose to avoid

situations during game play to avoid a facial injury can create negative consequences. These

negative consequences could loss of play time, receiving the injury they are trying to avoid, or

having an error on the field.

The researcher recommends that these findings can be used by parents, coaches, athletic

trainers, or any organizations deciding on whether softball and baseball players should be

mandated to wear a face mask. With the knowledge that more facial injuries occur at the higher

levels of the game, older athletes should wear mouth guards to avoid making facial injuries

become more serious. The lack of facial injuries occurring at the lower levels of the sport causes

the researcher to conclude that wearing face masks during that time might not need to be

mandated by sport organizations. But it should be a decision made by the parents and the

coaches of the softball and baseball player that know the skill level of the athletes. If the coach

or parent is concerned for their athletes, they should consider having the athlete wear a face

mask or another form of protective gear.

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Another application for this research study could be for the personal use of a baseball

or softball player. If a player is still deciding to wear a face mask or trying to decide to take off

their face mask, they could take in account the results found in this essay. Younger levels can

benefit from wearing face masks because injuries do still happen. However, it is not necessary

because so many athletes in this study made it through their career at the lower levels without

receiving some form of serious facial injury. However, higher levels of the sport should

consider using protective gear due to the increase of competition and difficulty of the game

that goes along with it. A player could read the study and based off their own personal level of

play decide what would be the best option for them on whether they should wear protective

gear or not.