# Let's talk about jock straps **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 19, 2000, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-jock-straps/26161 "2000-07-19T23:15:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2000, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-jock-straps/26161/21 "2000-07-20T21:29:25Z")
When I find one that fits my nose properly, the earholes are too big! ---
**Author:** ![ignatiusjreilly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/2acd7d/32.png) [@ignatiusjreilly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ignatiusjreilly)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2000, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-jock-straps/26161/22 "2000-07-20T22:07:14Z")
I recently switched back to wearing a jock after a few years of the “compression brief”. I can’t believe how good it feels. No bouncing around. A great feeling when on the treadmill or playing softball. ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2000, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-jock-straps/26161/23 "2000-07-20T23:21:14Z")
I did not realize that anyone actually wore one of those things without a cup. I have grown up playing contact sports. I played baseball for 9 years as a catcher, and I played football (american) for 11. I always wore a cup! I have seen the effects on other players when they get racked! In fact, I have always used it to my advantage that some other players do not wear them, he he he. Nothing like a rip in the nuts to bring a man down. After listening to you guys talk about running and such, now I understand why people wear them without cups. When I go out to play raquetball or something where I need support, I just wear tight bikini style briefs (No thongs.) They support just fine! ---
**Author:** ![JoeyBlades](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a87d85/32.png) [@JoeyBlades](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoeyBlades)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2000, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-jock-straps/26161/24 "2000-07-20T23:48:39Z")
Bear, The ones we’re talking about (the jocks) are standalone. You couldn’t (realistically) wear a cup with one. The ones that are made for cups are not (technically) jocks. I think they’re called cup supporters, or something like that. I used to wear a cup as a baseball catcher (necessity) and when I played football. There was a day when I sort of wished I was wearing one in a racquetball game, but I think for sports like racquetball, generally the cup is too restrictive. This particular incident was a freak accident where my opponent actually clipped me with his racquet… Racquetball is one of the sports that is attributed to a high incidence of testicular torsion, because of the sudden stops and twists. Tight briefs are probably OK, you just need to stop the pendulum effect on your stones. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2000, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-jock-straps/26161/25 "2000-07-21T03:10:50Z")
I must be doing something wrong. I’ve been playing racquetball for twenty years without a jockstrap. And I have a three year old daughter. ---
**Author:** ![London\_Calling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@London\_Calling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/London_Calling)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2000, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-jock-straps/26161/26 "2000-07-21T06:02:51Z")
Hey Cal - might be OK for racquet ball but I can tell you the hard ones are pretty useful for cricket. If one of those balls hits the meat and two veg you don’t focus or walk straight for 3 weeks. Hell of a thing. ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2000, 10:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-jock-straps/26161/27 "2000-07-21T10:23:48Z")
A comedian once told me that he always wore a jocular strap when performing. ---
**Author:** ![labdude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/5fc32e/32.png) [@labdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/labdude)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2000, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-jock-straps/26161/28 "2000-07-21T13:55:25Z")
Both heat and cold kill sperm, but heat kills more sperm faster. Health sperm need to be keep at about 2-3 degrees below body temperature. Thats why they are on the outside, and move up and down with the temperature. Until you get old that is! Then they just hang loose. ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2000, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-jock-straps/26161/29 "2000-07-21T15:43:31Z")
sorry, but someone was bound to post this line in this thread, and I thought I may as well get it out of the way: If you can’t be an athlete, be an athletic supporter. ---
**Author:** ![DavisMcDavis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dfb087/32.png) [@DavisMcDavis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavisMcDavis)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2000, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-jock-straps/26161/30 "2000-07-21T16:03:03Z")
Can someone exlpain exactly why there’s no coverage in the rear? What, exactly, does that accomplish? Would covering the ass remove support from the boys in the front office? I had no idea people still wore these things anywhere except as some sort of fetish garment. But then, I don’t know anyone who plays racquetball, either. ---
**Author:** ![ignatiusjreilly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/2acd7d/32.png) [@ignatiusjreilly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ignatiusjreilly)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2000, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-jock-straps/26161/31 "2000-07-21T20:46:49Z")
A fetish garment??? What? Do you think that all of a sudden in the late 90’s a law was passed that ended the bouncing and dangling of testicles? 😉 Jockstraps are a wonderful thing! If you don’t wear a jock (or some other form of specialized support - not just underwear) then you’re not a real man… BOOYAH! ---
**Author:** ![DavisMcDavis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dfb087/32.png) [@DavisMcDavis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavisMcDavis)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2000, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-jock-straps/26161/32 "2000-07-21T21:09:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ignatiusjreilly \* > \*\* > > Jockstraps are a wonderful thing! If you don’t wear a jock (or some other form of specialized support - not just underwear) then you’re not a real man… BOOYAH! \*\* Does that mean that women that don’t wear sports bra aren’t real women? 😉 I guess if there was less of my, um, manhood in my underwear, there would be room in there for bouncing and dangling, but thankfully I don’t have that problem. Tee hee… I still want to know why the ass is left open. Other than, well, easy access, which the average heterosexual racquetball player probably wouldn’t be worried about - during the game, at least - I can’t see what the purpose is, aside from as the aforementioned fetish garment. It’s of like the male equivalent of crotchless panties, isn’t it? :eek: ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2000, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-jock-straps/26161/33 "2000-07-21T21:20:04Z")
Actually, friends, the major risk of getting hit in racquetball is generally from behind. I’ve been smacked in the back of the head, the back, and the legs. I’ve never had to worry about the groin. (I’ve managed to hit Myself there after a particularly viscious swing that missed, but that’s my own damned fault.) I don’t understand all this talk about the exposed butt. You’re supposed to wear something with a jock, after all. Asking why it doesn’t cover the butt is like asking why a bra doesn’t cover the shoulders. And I Still hate jockstraps. ---
**Author:** ![JoeyBlades](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a87d85/32.png) [@JoeyBlades](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoeyBlades)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2000, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-jock-straps/26161/34 "2000-07-22T00:19:04Z")
Davis, > [@](#): > > I still want to know why the ass is left open. Quite simple really. The straps pull the pouch at the bottom which is largely responsible for the support. If you made an entire undergarment tight enough to give that kind of control (especially in the early days of jockstraps, pre-spandex) it would be too tight, too restrictive, too hot, and the elastic would be too expensive. Today we have garment building materials that make athletic supporters with backsides feasible… but they just look silly to us old guys… ---
**Author:** ![popokis5](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@popokis5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/popokis5)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2000, 8:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-jock-straps/26161/35 "2000-07-22T08:32:49Z")
Just wondering, why would someone need a “jock that will stretch for days”? What does that mean? And dear Joey, our bras rub, chafe, and are as uncomfortable as anything else that has to restrain one’s more than generous attributes. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-jock-straps/26161.md?page=1)