How Helmets Reduce the Risk of Concussions in Football Literature Review American football is the most popular sport regarding viewership of professional and collegiate sports. Although it is the most viewed sport in America, parents are not allowing their kids to play football because of the risk the sport potentially entails. They are concerned about head injuries and concussions. Football is a high-contact sport with a high rate of head injuries and concussions. These risks are inevitable in all sports, but with football there is a stigma around it because of all the repeated tackling and blows to the head. Concussions and head injuries are serious as they cause long-term damage such as Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, better known as CTE.
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In this article, I will discuss the importance of reducing concussions, how helmets have changed over time, and how the NFL has made rule changes to make the game safer. Importance of Reducing Concussions Football helmet improvements and rule changes need to be made due to one major reason: all the concussions and head injuries that occur in football. With parents preventing their kids from playing football due to head injuries, it makes it almost impossible for the game to grow. It is important to ensure safety for players because of the harm that head injuries can cause to people later in their life. Not only is reducing concussions important in making football safer, but because of the implications concussions can lead to. Especially if you have multiple concussions. Football has always been a tough physical game, and dangerous hits are a common component. Recently, there has been more research on the long-term effects of CTE and the dangers that come with it. Concussions are important to prevent because once someone has one, they are four to six times more likely to sustain another concussion (Loewen, …show more content…
Research will continue, which will lead to better helmet development over the years. Improvements in helmets are important because the more testing and background we have on the helmet, the more we know how safe the helmet actually is and what it provides. Although improvements still need to be made with the helmets, it is not the only thing that can be done to reduce concussions. There can also be changes made in the game of football to make it safer for the players that are playing to avoid head injuries and concussions. Rule Changes Made to Reduce Concussions There is no denying that football needs to continue to make strides to make the game safer. In the past few years, USA football has implemented Heads Up football (Bland, 2015). This program teaches proper tackling techniques and proper equipment fitting. The tackling techniques that they teach within this program make tackling safe by not leading with the head. Leading with the head is the root cause of all these head injuries (Bradley, 2014). Coaches also now need to be certified to keep these proper techniques in
In this article, I will discuss the importance of reducing concussions, how helmets have changed over time, and how the NFL has made rule changes to make the game safer. Importance of Reducing Concussions Football helmet improvements and rule changes need to be made due to one major reason: all the concussions and head injuries that occur in football. With parents preventing their kids from playing football due to head injuries, it makes it almost impossible for the game to grow. It is important to ensure safety for players because of the harm that head injuries can cause to people later in their life. Not only is reducing concussions important in making football safer, but because of the implications concussions can lead to. Especially if you have multiple concussions. Football has always been a tough physical game, and dangerous hits are a common component. Recently, there has been more research on the long-term effects of CTE and the dangers that come with it. Concussions are important to prevent because once someone has one, they are four to six times more likely to sustain another concussion (Loewen, …show more content…
Research will continue, which will lead to better helmet development over the years. Improvements in helmets are important because the more testing and background we have on the helmet, the more we know how safe the helmet actually is and what it provides. Although improvements still need to be made with the helmets, it is not the only thing that can be done to reduce concussions. There can also be changes made in the game of football to make it safer for the players that are playing to avoid head injuries and concussions. Rule Changes Made to Reduce Concussions There is no denying that football needs to continue to make strides to make the game safer. In the past few years, USA football has implemented Heads Up football (Bland, 2015). This program teaches proper tackling techniques and proper equipment fitting. The tackling techniques that they teach within this program make tackling safe by not leading with the head. Leading with the head is the root cause of all these head injuries (Bradley, 2014). Coaches also now need to be certified to keep these proper techniques in