Headgear In Contact Sports

The league office has taken various factors into account, as we considered enacting rule changes designed to reduce head injuries. First and foremost, we engaged in dialogue about whether any rule changes would threaten the “sole” of the sport. We came to the conclusion that these rule changes would not damage the sport, and would only legitimize it further. Secondly, we talked officials from other leagues regarding their changes in sports. Our league has experienced similar

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.

Steve Almond’s story “You Knock my Brains out This Sunday and I Knock Your Brains out the Next Time we Meet” speaks to the underlying truth about America’s Sunday pastime and how concussions can be prevented not only by the industry, but by its viewers as well. Football is well known after having been brought to the public’s eye as study after study was released proving that there was a link from football to head injuries. Although in our modern society we have already subconsciously made the connection between football and concussions. The fact that this problem is not decreasing, could be surprising, as the lack of understanding about who has control and the ability to influence change. We hear that football helmets and pads, are getting better, but that does not stop concussions. We do not hear how helmets make players feel and change their play style based on the feeling of invincibility that people feel while wearing a helmet. Pads and helmets do help protect the players but false senses of security due to lack of knowledge on what

As the popularity of soccer increases, controversy in relation to safety concerns continues to rise as well. Due to the ineffectiveness of protective headgear among soccer players, athletes should focus on alternatives to successfully prevent injuries. Concerned parents, coaches, and athletes should heightening rules and regulations and should properly evaluate the accuracy and effectiveness of the soccer gear (i.e., balls, gloves, etc.) being used in order to reduce chances of serious

Along with typical symptoms, athletes should be aware of ways that the injury can be avoided. In concussion education classes, athletes would be educated on how to wear the proper headgear for their sport, ways to avoid head to head collisions, and what conditions are safe to play in. For many sports, headgear is required and athletes cannot practice or compete without it. Sports involving a possibility for high impact such as football, wrestling, baseball, softball, hockey, horseback riding, skateboarding, skiing, and cycling all require some type of helmet or headgear to be worn while playing (Concussion). While not every sport that requires headgear is a contact sport, head injuries are still likely to occur in all of them. All athletes, even athletes playing non contact sports, should be

Researchers later found out that headgear is not protecting their brain. A competitor’s brain is still being shook around the skull. The requirement of wearing headgear is now optional to these sports.

4%-20% of all injuries in soccer are head injuries. Concussion and head injuries are a big part of soccer, many younger players should have to wear protective headgear while playing. Also, many of these head injuries that players sustained during soccer can affect them for the rest of their life with things such as CTE. Even though many people don’t want to change the game of soccer, at a certain age players should have to wear headgear if they want to head the ball because the brain damage kids can get from heading the ball can affect them for life, and it would decrease the amount of concussions the sport has per year.

Helmets are a major guideline that needs to be improved because a helmet is there to protect the head and prevent concussions but it doesn't seem to be doing a good job. Now there's always that question of “why don't we just make the helmet better and more equipped to prevent concussions?”, well we've had football around for years now and if it hasn't been done yet I don't think it will ever be done. According to the North Eastern Undergraduate Writing Journal, since the 1970s, helmets have been made with a polycarbonate shell, a steel face mask, and padding which is just foam and inflatable air bladders. Even though modern helmets maybe more

Statistics have proven that about 300,000 cases are reported annually, many of which are high school students due to sports or strenuous activities. Many coaches could argue that technology has given us the ability to create helmets that could ultimately absorb the shock impacts from a blow to the

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

In source B it states “ Concussion Rates per Sport: Football: 64 -76.8, Boys' ice hockey: 54.”. Sports like football, and ice hockey include a lot of contact whether with your teammates or the other teams. These sports have the highest concussion rates. If athletes were to wear better protective headgear than what they already have, concussion rates will decrease. Furthermore, in source A it states “ Now, a team of engineers and physicians at Stanford has provided the first-ever measurements of all the acceleration forces imparted on the brain during a diagnosed concussion. The findings could lead to better injury detection, or toward developing safer protective gear.”. Physicians are finding new ways to develop injury detections, and safer protective gear. This is the future of sport protective headgear. With safer headgear and a better understanding of concussions, concussion rates will

Barnett argues “Live contact during regular season and postseason practises will be allowed no more than three days a week and limited to no more than 30 minutes a day and a total of no more than 80 minutes a week. Contact also is not allowed on more than two consecutive days.”(Barnett, pg1) This will help decrease the number of concussions in children and teens in sports. Although it is not a way to prevent them it is still a serious injury that people of all ages should be cautious about. (HELMETS IN SPORTS) “Helmet use in sports spans such varied activities as race-car driving, motorcycling, baseball, hockey, football, lacrosse, equestrian activities, and bicycling. The substantial increase in helmet use is a tribute to the consumer's concern for safety, society's interest in minimizing serious injury, and the helmet industry's efforts to produce acceptable products. Generally speaking, however, helmet safety design has evolved slowly”(Coben, 1). Helmets in sports are the most important tool for protection from concussions. Even though concussions are not 100% preventable schools should pay the extra money to get the safest helmets. Helmet safety is evolving and there are new helmets specifically for concussions. “Forty-one states and Washington, DC, have youth sports TBI laws that require coaches and teams to remove young athletes from play if they are suspected of having suffered a TBI, and all of those states but Wisconsin and Ohio require

On November 6th, 1869 the young American sport called football was born. In 1903, the addition of the football helmet was introduced; however, the helmet was not mandatory for all players until 1943 (“History of the”). Since the mandatory protocol for the use of helmets, the football helmet has advanced in safety. The helmet evolved from a plastic shell-shaped helmet to a more protective rounded plastic helmet with a face mask and chin strap. After those improvements, the modifications for safety increased. Today, professional football players have impact indicators on their chin straps to identify head injuries. As players have gotten bigger and stronger, head injury awareness is a major part of player’s safety and if they are not aware, it often results in a concussion. Many players and viewers of the game do not know how concussions occur, what the effects are, and how engineers and associations try to prevent the occurrence.

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).

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.