Will practice helmets become game helmets?
- Thread starter t-noah
- Start date
For preventing concussions, the Q-Collar has much more promise than any helmet.
I'm starting to see more and more college and pro players wearing them and I'd expect that a lot of high schools could make them mandatory sometime soon.
q30.com
I'm starting to see more and more college and pro players wearing them and I'd expect that a lot of high schools could make them mandatory sometime soon.
Q30 | Brain Protection FDA-Cleared Q-Collar - Sub-Concussion Neck Band
Q30 developed the FDA-cleared Q-Collar to protect athletes' and soldiers' from sub-concussion repetitive head impacts. Trusted by pros in football, lacrosse, and more!
yeah I have seen them used a lot more recentlyFor preventing concussions, the Q-Collar has much more promise than any helmet.
I'm starting to see more and more college and pro players wearing them and I'd expect that a lot of high schools could make them mandatory sometime soon.
Q30 | Brain Protection FDA-Cleared Q-Collar - Sub-Concussion Neck Band
Q30 developed the FDA-cleared Q-Collar to protect athletes' and soldiers' from sub-concussion repetitive head impacts. Trusted by pros in football, lacrosse, and more!
So true. It will be interesting to see and learn about this new product. And as bolded above, we should take take information from the manufacturer of the Q-Collar, or from "experts" who represent them, with a grain of salt.
Here's an article from the NY Times, expressing one early concern, that of athletes thinking they don't have as much chance of getting a concussion, wearing this device, and thus playing more 'aggressively'.
Michael Sowers, left, a star in the Premier Lacrosse League, said that before wearing the Q-Collar, he would take a hit and wonder, “‘Do I have concussion symptoms?’”Credit...M. Anthony Nesmith/Icon Sportswire, via Getty Images
Sowers, 25, the lacrosse star, seemed to validate this concern. “I can go out there and play my game,” he said. “I don’t have to fear the contact.”
Will This Device Protect Athletes’ Brains, or Only Make Them Think It Does? (Published 2022)
More and more pro and college athletes are trying on the Q-Collar as they search for something, anything, that might keep their brains safe. But does it work?
I will definitely be looking for them now, the Q-Collar.
Apparently it has been approved and out for use over the past 2-3 years? Since early 2021?
About Q30 | The History, Background and Science of Q30 Innovations
Learn about Q30’s mission to protect brains from the effects of head impacts in sports and on the battlefield. Discover the story behind the Q-Collar here.
I am again reminded of the etiology (or cause) of concussions, the floating brain coming to a jarring stop against the skull, etc., and can see why the outer padded helmets are likely to do little to prevent this. They have to be of some good though, yes? Why else would the NFL mandate their use in practices involving contact?
What exactly is the benefit? Is it just a way for the NFL to say they are doing all that they possibly can do, to avoid legal repercussions? Surely they have some benefit in terms of repetitive head contact?
I'm not sure if there's explicit verbage addressing repeated brain collision. I'd be surprised if there was though.
Hard to say how I feel. I certainly felt the impact myself in my own playing time. Things have gotten better but it's unavoidable. The padding has to help mathematically. It increases the time of the collision even if only incrementally. If that's enough idk but I doubt it. Anything is better than nothing though.
I thought the padded helmets were more for the incidental type contacts like linemen get on practically every play. It's the hundreds if not thousands of these that add up over time. I don't think they are intended as much for the single blow concussions between tacklers and ball carriers or whiplash concussions that quarterbacks can get when sacked.
I think that's what I read also. The extra padding helps the repetitive micro-trauma impacts, which add up to potential brain damage.
So not wearing a helmet at all wouldn’t lead to an increase in concussions? That’s total BS. Of course padding helps to prevent concussions.
The problem has been for decades players were taught to use the helmet and your head as a weapon on the field. The OL blocking was 3 points of contract, punch with the hands and use our forehead as the 3rd part of the triangle. Players were preached to throw their head into a tackle and put it right on the numbers.
Most of the teaching has now gone away, rules have been put into place to stop players from blowing up wr's and backs just because they could. Leading with the helmet on a tackle down can led to being disqualified, but its the repeated small hits to the head that add up over the years, lineman on both sides of the ball are those that have these types of collusions.
There is some data that suggests that going to a more soft type of helmet, instead of a hard shell helmet, would discourage people from leading with their head, and therefore lessen the chance of a concussion, much like they do in rugby.
I am not sure. I know its been at least a couple years since they started showing up. I think they were first used in practices more than games. The report I first saw about them was showing them being used, emphasized and showed them being used in practice.I will definitely be looking for them now, the Q-Collar.
Apparently it has been approved and out for use over the past 2-3 years? Since early 2021?
About Q30 | The History, Background and Science of Q30 Innovations
Learn about Q30’s mission to protect brains from the effects of head impacts in sports and on the battlefield. Discover the story behind the Q-Collar here.q30.com
Since then they have definitely started showing up more in competitions, both in Football and also other sports, but mostly in football, at all levels.
The theory is that because players have helmets, they tend to be less protective of their head, and use it as a battering ram etc. Which leads to increased injuries and concussions.
That is the theory anyway, I believe it is plausible, but has problems.
They could possibly do some good for lineman and since there is no real downside there is no harm in having them available but their actual preventive impact is extremely minimal. For what it’s worth Guardian themselves say that no helmet can prevent concussions, they have to say that for FDA purposes but it’s also true based on physiology.
It’s also worth remembering that the only way to diagnose a concussion is through a physical exam and mental acuity test. There is no imaging or any other test to definitively detect a concussion. So any claims of concussions going down from the NFL will have a massive bias. Players don’t want to report concussions for the future of their careers, the NFL doesn’t want them to appear to be a safe sport, and coaches don’t want them because it takes a player out of action.
No I was agreeing with you. Outside of that you can also get a concussion from when the force of an impact it transferred from the skull to the brain, you can think of this as the difference between a boxer getting knocked out vs a WR getting taken out across the middle. Impact vs momentum essentially
I know you were. I'm curious about how it all works. I was always led to believe it's basically your brain bouncing around inside the skull. I agree the extra padding on the helmet is pretty pointless. The hard plastic and padding inside the helmet should protect against blunt force.
