Football Helmets

Safety and equipment have come a long way in football in order to prevent brain injuries. A very important piece of equipment used to prevent brain trauma is the helmet. The helmet has evolved a lot over the years, even more in the past decade. The Helmets main purpose use to be just to stop skull fractures, then they added the facemask to prevent facial injuries. Concussions are more of a recent concern (Hand 1). Overconfidence in the helmets' protective power prompts many NFL athletes to deliver and accept hits that would have killed players of previous generations. Now the helmet is being revolutionized. Helmets aren't only being created to stop skull and face fractures but they are being created to help prevent brain damage such as concussions now. Helmets have gone through testing to see how to design a better preventative helmet. These newer helmets are being designed to reduce the amount of force that is being applied to the head by a hit that is received (Vandantam 2). Virginia Tech football has been monitoring helmet collisions since 2003, courtesy of Dr. Gunnar Brolinson. Dr. Gunnar Brolinson has outfitted the teams helmets with six sensors and a small antenna that records and transmits data to a computer on the sideline. This information collected is crucial because it will help find better ways to design a helmet that will prevent concussions(Goldman 1). Equipment isn't the only important part of football that can help prevent concussions.

My topic choice for the final essay will be Football Safety Equipment. I decided to write about this topic because I am an athlete and I have played football since I was six years old. When I transfer to a four year college, I plan to play on the collegiate level. As I grew, my father would purchase extra protection in addition to purchasing my own specialized helmet for football. My father did this because he believed Parks and Recreation did not properly maintain their equipment. Also, over the last couple of years there has been quite a few players from little league to the professional league who have suffered concussions. As a result, some medical professionals believe these concussions are linked to CTE (Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy).

The issue of multiple concussions is finally becoming recognized by major sports. The awareness has led to a variety of interventions to help protect athletes. There have been two recent interventions concerning football helmets. First off, Riddell, a company that produces football helmets, has released a new helmet that is supposed to best prevent concussions. This helmet is known as the Revolution Speed. Using advanced technology, the Speed helmets were designed around the head 's center of gravity and include an uneven outer shell to help absorb a hit. The inside of the

Traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) have always been a problem in sports and especially in contact sports like football. Since the beginning of football there has been different styles of head protection, from no helmets at all in very early stages to the modern day helmets we have today. In order to know how the evolution of the football helmet has made head injuries less common than they originally were, we have to know what is a concussion and how someone gets one.

Football is game of speed, strength, and strategy. The best way to be a better player is working on becoming bigger and stronger while maintaining the speed, but when the players mass, strength, and speed all get better the forces the can produce a greater force with their hits. According to Timothy Gay, Physics professor at the University of Nebraska and author of The Physics of Football, a Defensive Back at the average one-hundred and ninety pounds that runs a 4.56 forty-yard dash can produce sixteen-hundred pounds of tackling force, which easily can break any bone of the human body. Due to the extreme forces the players are exposed to, it is necessary for each player to wear pads that help reduce and spread out the forces, and helmets

Today’s world, the top rated helmet to use is a Riddle. Priced at about $400, it features a hard polycarbonate shell to bounce off an impact and an energy absorbing foam lining to absorb the aftershock (Wilson). Dr. Timothy of Gay, University of Nebraska physics professor, writer, and industry helmet said, “I think that it’s true that football helmets are 85% as good as they’re ever going to get.” The optimal football helmet won’t be much better than the helmet you can buy right now because there are just physics restraints on the kind of padding you can use. To make a helmet that is concussion proof you would need about fifteen inches of foam on the helmet.

Introduction- Specialized headgear and better concussion protocol should be utilized in high school sports to prevent serious brain injuries.

“NFL helmets will never be 100% safe and players with never be 100% safe from concussions. In the article he claims,”We’re expecting a mere 1.5 inches of foam and candy shell to decelerate a player’s head gently enough to prevent their brain from bouncing around inside their skull and causing poorly understood, but permanent and devastating injury. After talking to some of the brightest minds in helmet design, helmet testing and football physics, the elephant in the room became clear: A concussion-proof helmet is a pipe dream. If the NFL wants concussion-free football, they’ll need to redesign

Josh Weinfuss expressed that to precede to come back to practice or play, not exclusively should the team doctor clear the player, yet the Independent Neurological Consultant with mastery in concussions should likewise assess and clear the player to come back to practice and play. They likewise have a specialist who has some expertise in cerebrum wounds that strolls around the sidelines amid NFL amusements who disregards if a player ought to backpedal into the diversion or not. The NFL website composed that, "what's more, the NFL and the NFL Players Association cooperate to ensure players by delineating infractions and disciplines for uncalled for player lead, perilous plays or erroneous utilization of security gear. The alliance likewise orders the correct support and testing of playing fields to lessen the danger of damage." Riddell a long-lasting protective cap supplier for the NFL has delivered another cap called the Speedflex which could decrease cerebrum harm fundamentally was presented in 2014. Will Carrol composed that what's so exceptional about this head protector and how it contrasts from different caps is the set pattern in the front. It's known as a cantilever, it enables the head protector to have greater adaptability while keeping up a general firmness. The thick cushioning behind the zone that is moves a considerable measure doesn't enable it to move much, however sufficiently only in a territory where players can take huge hits. The effect from either side likewise permit more flex in the protective cap to scatter the hits inside before the drive gets to the head. The issue is likewise that the chinstrap that is utilized to ensure the protective cap is bolted on the player's head hasn't been changed for more than 70

Ways in which the equipment we wear, to the way coaches are now being taught to teach players the importance of technique to greatly reduce head injuries . Studies have shown that football helmets on average only reduce the risk of traumatic brain injury by approximately 20% , but with this new helmet made by RIDDELL which majority of football organization are wearing provide state of the art protection with this flexible shell technology. This technology helps reduce the impact force transfer to the athlete. The Tru-Curve Liner System allows the helmet to conform to the contours of a player’s head, while the Composite Energy Management System or (inner padding) absorbs impact energy. According to study done by Michelle Castillo of CBS news Riddell helmets out performed 10 other helmets and reduced the risk of a concussion up to about 10%. The importance of technique goes a long way. Head to head contact can be avoided when knowing how to properly form tackle.It is recommended that all coaches spend the time with their players to go over these ways to prevent injuries. Bobby Hosea, a 55-year-old former defensive back of Ucla has reached out to to all communities to run a camp that stresses one skill of how to tackle. Knowing how devastating a tackle could be if its not properly done I find this a very valuable source for all to take part in if you want to play the game of

According to data collected from a study done from multiple collegiate teams between 2005 and 2010, sensors within helmets help measure head acceleration, which in turn provides better stability against heavy hits. The data within the study came from “helmets worn by 1833 players” (Staff) Each player either wore a Riddell VSR4 or wore a Riddell Revolution (different helmet types). Surprisingly, concussion rates differed between each helmet. “Results revealed a 54% reduction in concussion risk for players wearing the Revolution helmets compared to players in the VSR4.” The Medical Staff maintains that “Players with VSR4 helmets experienced higher head accelerations due to impact than those who wore Revolution helmets. Researchers attribute this to the Revolution helmets' ability to better modulate the energy transfer from the impact to the head, resulting in lower head accelerations. Lower head accelerations, in turn, reduces the risk of concussion.” Helmet design is crucial in lowering the risk of head injury; the measurement and and reduction of head acceleration is a key component in injury

Football can be a very dangerous sport. And although those who play the game believe that they are being protected by the helmets that they wear, the truth is that this may not be the case. In a recent study released by the American Academy of Neurology it has been found that “protection against concussion and complications of brain injury is especially important for young players, including elementary and middle school, high school and college athletes, whose still-developing brains are more susceptible to the lasting effects of trauma”(Science Daily, 2014). The study also found that standard football helmets worn by the majority of players on the field today, only reduce the risk of traumatic brain injury by 20 percent compared to not wearing a helmet at all (Science Daily, 2014).

The NFL understands the severity of injuries will continue to increase due to players today becoming bigger, faster, and stronger than they use to be. This is where creating more efficient equipment comes in to effect. With head injuries being the spotlight in the NFL recent years, endless research has been conducted to create helmets that reduce impact for the players. In 2012, manufacturers conducted a test which consisted of 23 different impacts on 17 types of modern football helmets and comparing those results to helmets of the 1990s that are still cleared to be used in the NFL. “The four helmets had significantly improved performance compared to the 1990s baseline helmets. The Schutt DNA PRO (#5) and the Riddell Revolution (#4), IQ (#9), and Revolution Speed (#7) has statistically lower biomechanical responses and better for attenuation than the 1990s baseline helmets” (Viano, 2012). Along with the field tests of these new improved helmets, was research on if on-field performance is different in players who return within seven days after a concussion compared with players who missed at least one game. This was conducted on players who actively played in the NFL from 2008 to 2012 who wore these improved helmets as opposed to the helmets created in the 90s. After these tests were complete, there was no difference in player performance and concussion rates have actually gone down from 1996 to 2012 when this study was conducted. Advancements in helmet technology has become quite successful as players safety, concussions, and the actions the NFL has taken to improve on both, have become a huge spotlight in the sports

There has been extraordinary improvements of helmets from the old leather to the modernized-plastic football helmets along with the face mask and energy- absorbent padding. In addition, the concern over preventing concussions, have led to helmet changes, impact testing methods and reconstruction of injuries during play helping to provide insight on concussions(4). Helmets have been successful in decreasing the risk of traumatic brain injuries, but there is much concern over concussion; therefore, scholars argue the importance of technology development to address concussion(5). As the author(s), David Viano and David Halstead discusses, there is room needed for understanding the types of collisions associated in youths and the impact condition addressing collisions. There are many variables to consider addressing concussion and where they occur.

American football has been around for over one hundred years, and along with the sport has been the need to provide proper safety for the players. An assortment of padding has been instituted in the game that protects against most blunt trauma including blows to the shoulders, mid section, and legs. In an attempt to prevent fracture of the skull, helmets were designed. However, studies have shown that helmets do little to nothing to prevent concussive damage to the brain. A polycarbonate shell is used as the outer housing for regulation football helmets, but along with this material, the materials used on the inside of the helmet are just as, if not more, important. The purpose of this report is to analyze the materials used in current football helmet design and the improvements being made in the field of materials science in order to combat the severe number of concussions suffered by NFL players.