The background of this area should be an image. Please use Change Background feature to change the background of this area.
(Can be found under DESIGN tab)
LATEST NEWS - IVY LEAGUE VOTES TO END TACKLING IN PRACTICE (Many thanks to Dr. Susan Hughes for her research!)
No tackling in practice - Perhaps the Answer?
No tackling in practice is an extreme decrease from the norm: NCAA regulations state there can be four full-contact practices each week. It's a decisive stance on a subject that's plagued the game of football. According to a report by Timothy Bella of Al Jazeera in December 2015, there were 501 reported concussions in the past three college football seasons. Reported vs actual - what's your guess? I'm guessing the actual total in the hundreds of NCAA football programs is in the 1000's.
A study done by Ph.D. holder Timothy A. McGuire—a senior scientist at the University of Wisconsin, Madison—showed the elimination of full-contact practices could decrease injuries at lower levels of the sport, per Bert B. Vargas, M.D., of Neurology Reviews. In his study, McGuire tested high school football players from 2012-2014. In 2012 and 2013, teams had full-contact practices, and in 2014, they did not. Vargas explained McGuiness study:
During all three seasons, almost half the concussions (46%) occurred during tackling. Although the overall rate of concussions dropped from 1.57 per 1,000 athletic exposures in the combined 2012 and 2013 seasons to 1.28 per 1,000 athletic exposures in the 2014 season, the difference was not significant... The difference in concussions occurring during practice, however, did differ significantly before and after the rule change. The rate of concussions during practice in 2014 was 0.33 concussions per 1,000 athletic exposures, compared with 0.76 concussions per 1,000 exposures in the 2012 and 2013 seasons. Twelve of 15 concussions in 2014 practices occurred during full-contact practices, a rate of 0.57 per 1,000 exposures, and 82 of 86 concussions in the 2012 and 2013 seasons occurred during full contact practices, a rate of 0.87 per 1,000 exposures.
*** Football coaches in the Ivy League unanimously decided to remove tackling from regular-season practices, per a Tuesday report by Ken Bolson of the New York Times. They made the decision in an attempt to further limit players' chances of suffering head and brain injuries.
My former holder and longtime friend, Stronger Safer Sports Board Member and Coach Buddy Teevens at Dartmouth College, one of the eight member coaches of the Ivy League, has been reducing the amount of full-contact practices since 2010, per Bolson. Instead of hitting teammates, players hit tackling dummies and a "specially designed 'mobile virtual player' that moves across the field the way a player would." “At this stage in their careers, these guys know how to hit and take a hit,” Buddy Teevens told Bolson. “People look at it and say we’re nuts. But it’s kept my guys healthy.” Buddy (see video on Stephen Colbert's Late Show on www.StrongerSaferSports.com ) reports an 80% reduction in injuries overall from this policy. It also hasn't hurt the team's performance. In 2015, Dartmouth won a share of the Ivy League conference title to cap off a 9-1 season. This is an easy enough equation: The less contact there is in practice, the less likely a player can suffer an injury that can hold him out of actual game time. Nancy Armour of USA Today to write Tuesday that this could "maybe even save the game."
The downside: no tackling each other in practice decreases the amount of time players experience actual full-speed playing conditions and hone their skills in game-like situations, something that could stunt a player's development. Reduction in tackling and off-season contact drills has led to a perceived decrease in tackling quality in the NFL since the new rules of the current NFL Collective Bargaining Agreement.
No tackling in practice - Perhaps the Answer?
No tackling in practice is an extreme decrease from the norm: NCAA regulations state there can be four full-contact practices each week. It's a decisive stance on a subject that's plagued the game of football. According to a report by Timothy Bella of Al Jazeera in December 2015, there were 501 reported concussions in the past three college football seasons. Reported vs actual - what's your guess? I'm guessing the actual total in the hundreds of NCAA football programs is in the 1000's.
A study done by Ph.D. holder Timothy A. McGuire—a senior scientist at the University of Wisconsin, Madison—showed the elimination of full-contact practices could decrease injuries at lower levels of the sport, per Bert B. Vargas, M.D., of Neurology Reviews. In his study, McGuire tested high school football players from 2012-2014. In 2012 and 2013, teams had full-contact practices, and in 2014, they did not. Vargas explained McGuiness study:
During all three seasons, almost half the concussions (46%) occurred during tackling. Although the overall rate of concussions dropped from 1.57 per 1,000 athletic exposures in the combined 2012 and 2013 seasons to 1.28 per 1,000 athletic exposures in the 2014 season, the difference was not significant... The difference in concussions occurring during practice, however, did differ significantly before and after the rule change. The rate of concussions during practice in 2014 was 0.33 concussions per 1,000 athletic exposures, compared with 0.76 concussions per 1,000 exposures in the 2012 and 2013 seasons. Twelve of 15 concussions in 2014 practices occurred during full-contact practices, a rate of 0.57 per 1,000 exposures, and 82 of 86 concussions in the 2012 and 2013 seasons occurred during full contact practices, a rate of 0.87 per 1,000 exposures.
*** Football coaches in the Ivy League unanimously decided to remove tackling from regular-season practices, per a Tuesday report by Ken Bolson of the New York Times. They made the decision in an attempt to further limit players' chances of suffering head and brain injuries.
My former holder and longtime friend, Stronger Safer Sports Board Member and Coach Buddy Teevens at Dartmouth College, one of the eight member coaches of the Ivy League, has been reducing the amount of full-contact practices since 2010, per Bolson. Instead of hitting teammates, players hit tackling dummies and a "specially designed 'mobile virtual player' that moves across the field the way a player would." “At this stage in their careers, these guys know how to hit and take a hit,” Buddy Teevens told Bolson. “People look at it and say we’re nuts. But it’s kept my guys healthy.” Buddy (see video on Stephen Colbert's Late Show on www.StrongerSaferSports.com ) reports an 80% reduction in injuries overall from this policy. It also hasn't hurt the team's performance. In 2015, Dartmouth won a share of the Ivy League conference title to cap off a 9-1 season. This is an easy enough equation: The less contact there is in practice, the less likely a player can suffer an injury that can hold him out of actual game time. Nancy Armour of USA Today to write Tuesday that this could "maybe even save the game."
The downside: no tackling each other in practice decreases the amount of time players experience actual full-speed playing conditions and hone their skills in game-like situations, something that could stunt a player's development. Reduction in tackling and off-season contact drills has led to a perceived decrease in tackling quality in the NFL since the new rules of the current NFL Collective Bargaining Agreement.