Storyline: Knowing how to play the game makes it safer and fun–and you’ll become a better player.
The public is concerned about head injuries in sports. Whether it’s in youth sports or professional sports, studies have shown that head injuries can have lasting impact on players.
Courtesy: forwardprogressacademy.com
The purpose of this article is to describe how athletes can protect themselves from the impact of head injuries in football. Knowing how to play the game makes it safer and fun–and you’ll become a better player.
Keep Your Head Up: Always remember to keep your head up. If you hit a player between the numbers it can result in spinal injuries. Keeping your head up also enables you to focus on the player and where he’s moving.
Make Sure To Wrap Up: When you’re on defense and you’re closing in on the runner, make sure to wrap up. You don’t want to try and knock him over. You want to wrap both arms around his waist or his legs. Make sure you get down low and drive, which will knock him off his feet and drive him into the turf or grass. You don’t want to stand up straight or wrap-up top around the shoulder pads. If he’s a big runner, he could just extend his arm and break away.
Protect Your Head: When I played football the coaches taught me this: if you hit him on the side, put your helmet across his chest into the numbers. Today it’s a little different. Instead of putting your head across his chest, coaches teach you to put your head across the back numbers. Studies have shown that most concussions happen across your face from the cheekbone, across the nose, and up.
