Newsletter
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Protective Equipment--Do Athletes Need It?
Protective equipment is an important part of athletics. It helps protect the athlete from serious injury and helps prevent re-injury.
Hopefully, when you read the title of this article you said yes! Protective equipment is an important part of athletics. It helps protect the athlete from serious injury and helps prevent re-injury.
Modifications and improvements in sports equipment are continually being made, especially for sports in which injury is common. This is true for direct contact and collision sports such as football as well as for indirect contact sports such as basketball and soccer.
Parents, athletes, and coaches need to be proactive in regards to the maintenance of protective equipment at the beginning, middle, and end of the season. Parents can make sure that when they buy protective equipment that they buy from a reputable manufacture and to buy the safest equipment that resources will permit.
Athletes can do a few things everyday before practice and games. First, before they put on the equipment they need to inspect it for cracks, rips, or any defects that may make it unsafe. If it is unsafe, they need to go to their coach immediately.
Secondly, athletes need to make sure that the equipment fits properly on their body. Especially when they get a new haircut or decide to wear a ‘dew rage’ or cover on their head, if the sport requires a helmet. For example, when putting on a football helmet the athlete needs to make sure that the:
Ø Helmet should cover the base of the skull
Ø Helmet should not come down over the player’s eyes.
Ø Helmet should not shift when manual pressure is applied
Ø Helmet should not recoil on impact
Ø Helmet ear cutouts should line up with player’s ears
Ø The front edge of the helmet should sit ¾ inch above the player’s eyebrows
Ø Chinstrap should be positioned equal distance from the center of the helmet
Ø Cheek/jaw pads should fit snugly against athlete’s cheekbones to prevent the helmet from rocking laterally (side-to-side).
Ø Face guards should not have less than two bars; should be 3 inches space between the top of the face guard and the lower edge of the helmet; should be a space of 1 to 1½ between the player’s nose and the face guard.
This seems like a lot to do however it only takes seconds. Lastly, the athlete needs to make sure that they use the equipment only for the purpose for which it was designed.
Coaches need to make sure that:
Ø They purchase the equipment from a reputable manufacture.
Ø They buy the safest equipment that resources will permit
Ø All equipment is assembled correctly. The person who assembles equipment must be competent to do so and must follow the manufacturer’s instructions to the letter.
Ø Maintain all equipment properly, according to the manufacturer’s guidelines
Ø Warn athletes who use the equipment about all possible risks that using the equipment could entail
Ø Use great caution in the construction or customizing of any piece of equipment
Ø Use no defective equipment. All equipment must routinely be inspected for defects, and all defective equipment must be rendered unusable.
© Copyright 1999 - 2005 Watertown Area Health Services
All Rights Reserved
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Jumping into Plyometrics
Preventing ACL Injuries
Speed Skaters Benefit from World Class Care
Jumpers Knee
Protective Equipment--Do Athletes Need It?
Swimming with Strong Shoulders
Tumbling into Trouble
Shoulder Injuries in Overhead Sports
The Female Athlete Triad
Preventing Golf Injury
Off Season Preparations for Athletes
Proper Pitching Mechanics Can Prevent Shoulder Injuries
Shin Splints
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6th Annual
sports medicine symposium
and golf outing
Thursday, August 3rd, 2006
Mark your calendars for our 6th Annual Sports Medicine Symposium and Golf Outing. Once again, the event will be held at Windwood Country Club in Watertown. This FREE symposium will include information to help coaches succeed at all levels of competition. Once the symposium is over, join us for a FREE lunch, and a FREE 9 holes of golf.
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Speed and Agility Camp
Starting June 12th through July 28th
6 weeks excluding the week of July 3rd through July 7th
Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays
9:00 AM – 10:30 AM
Cost: $110
WAHS Sports Medicine believes that speed, agility, and conditioning are essential to athletic success. In order to help you achieve your full potential, our highly trained performance enhancement staff at WAHS Sports Medicine has developed a 6 week speed and agility camp.
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Functional Strength and Power Camp
Starting June 13th and ending July 27th
Excludes week of July 3rd through July 7th
Tuesdays and Thursdays
9:00 AM– 10:30 AM
Cost: $85
WAHS Sports Medicine has developed challenging, functional, and effective alternative to weightlifting. Unlike traditional weightlifting, the camp integrates traditionally proven exercises as well as advanced exercises to work all muscle groups in unison, thereby increasing overall strength, power and coordination, while decreasing the risk of injury.
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Related Links
Careers:
www.nata.org National Athletic Trainers Association
www.apta.org American Physical Therapist Association
Health and Injury Information:
www.acsm.org American College of Sports Medicine
www.ncaa.org National Collegiate Athletic Association
www.wiaawi.org/health/nutrition Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic
Association
www.gssiweb.com Gatoraide Sports Science Institiute
www.iasm.com Institute for Arthroscopy and Sports Medicine
www.physsportsmed.com The Physician & Sports Medicine
www.ORTHOsupersite.com The Orthopaedics Supersite
www.sportsdentistry.com Academy for Sports Dentistry
www.aapsm.org American Academy of Podiatric Sports Medicine
www.biausa.org Brain Injury Association of America
www.subtlebraininjury.com Subtle Brain Injury Website
www.sportsmedresources.com Sports Medicine Resources Website
www.asmi.org American Sports Medicine Institute
www.ortho-u.net Wheeless' Textbook of Orthopaedics
www.lightningsafety.com National Lightning Safety Institute
www.webmd.com WebMD
www.nocsae.org National Operating Committee on Standards for
Athletic Equipment
Strength and Conditioning:
www.athleticsearch.com Athletic Search on Web
www.nsca-lift.org National Strength and Conditioning Association
www.nasm.org National Academy of Sports Medicine
www.coaching.usolympicteam.com Olympic E-Coach Magazine
www.ncsf.org National Council of Strength & Fitness
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