This is true, but it will happen anyway unless you set the age limit close to or at adulthood (maybe 16-17). Does "learning body contact" really help the kid who hasn't had his voice drop nor...
This is true, but it will happen anyway unless you set the age limit close to or at adulthood (maybe 16-17). Does "learning body contact" really help the kid who hasn't had his voice drop nor grown a hair on his chest avoid injury when he gets tackled by that 6'1 170 pound kid?
Anecdotally as well, when I played soccer as a kid -- which may not be as brutal as American football, but still often results in injuries in adults -- nobody really got seriously injured until people started hitting puberty. Our bodies were simply not capable of sufficient force (unless extremely bad luck was involved) to cause any serious injuries. The rules didn't change when we hit 12-13 years old, the only thing that changed was our size, speed and power, which made the same tackles much more dangerous. Having had that experience of playing the same game at an earlier age doesn't seem to have made any impact.
Maybe the sports are just that different. A soccer tackle isn't really something where you can learn to take a hit. It's foot on foot/leg. The goal of the person in possession of the ball is to...
Maybe the sports are just that different. A soccer tackle isn't really something where you can learn to take a hit. It's foot on foot/leg. The goal of the person in possession of the ball is to get past the defender with control of the ball, ideally by avoiding getting hit at all. But if somebody does hit your ankle/shin/knee there's really nothing whatsoever you can do to mitigate the damage; whether it results in an injury or not is decided by the actions of the defender and luck at that point.
Oh it absolutely is it's just more subtle than in hockey. If this wasn't a thing Messi would be dead or crippled by now. Just like hockey you can't realy protect yourself from unexpected malice...
A soccer tackle isn't really something where you can learn to take a hit.
Oh it absolutely is it's just more subtle than in hockey. If this wasn't a thing Messi would be dead or crippled by now. Just like hockey you can't realy protect yourself from unexpected malice but if you look at all the "professional free kicks" (in my language) being awarded during a match that's exactly what that is.
I think we may be talking about different things. Most fouls from tackles are basically trips. Player falls down, that's it. It looks the same at all levels of play from the Sunday league to the...
I think we may be talking about different things. Most fouls from tackles are basically trips. Player falls down, that's it. It looks the same at all levels of play from the Sunday league to the Champions League. I don't think it takes any particular skill to not get injured by such low-risk tackles - or if there is a skill to it, it's one that's easily internalized by players at all levels of play, because it follows naturally from physics. Most tackles are like that because most players are not trying to get sent off with a red, nor to cripple their opposition.
But a high-risk tackle (which may be malicious or just unlucky) is something else. If somebody smashes into your knee or ankle, say, there isn't much you can do.
I do think Messi has been exceptionally lucky in his career. He's picked up numerous minor injuries, like all professional footballers, but has missed less than 90 days in twenty years. With just a little bad luck any of those injuries could have cost him months or even years of recovery. And conversely, if it isn't luck and is actually some particular skillset, it's one that sets him above even other highly regarded professionals. He's quite possibly the best footballer ever. It's not something you could teach to children anyway. Every season you see professionals picking up career-derailing injuries due to, basically, bad luck.
Maybe we are and I'm not disagreeing completely. I disagree and that's why when you for an example see inexperienced professional defensive player being tripped during a rare instance where he's...
Maybe we are and I'm not disagreeing completely.
Most fouls from tackles are basically trips. Player falls down, that's it. It looks the same at all levels of play from the Sunday league to the Champions League. I don't think it takes any particular skill to not get injured by such low-risk tackles - or if there is a skill to it, it's one that's easily internalized by players at all levels of play, because it follows naturally from physics.
I disagree and that's why when you for an example see inexperienced professional defensive player being tripped during a rare instance where he's in attacking mode it just looks "funny". Just like a sunday leauge player. That's because he's hasn't learned this skill properly. These instances are getting more rare since this skill it's just the norm now and not just for forwards anymore. It's kind of like how a skateboarder can try a dangerous trick multiple times without getting seriously hurt where non-skateboarders would get hurt on the first try.
I agree malice and bad luck we can't do anything about and Messi has had his share of injuries and luck but he has this skill. Not particular more skilled than a lot of others but it has definitely helped him not getting seriously injured in the long run.
You can watch the PSA here This is a pretty major PSA from a well-known star from the NFL. I think this is long overdue and important for child development and the health of the sport. As CTE...
This is a pretty major PSA from a well-known star from the NFL. I think this is long overdue and important for child development and the health of the sport. As CTE becomes more researched and established, I think the trend will either be American-style football being banned in some jurisdictions or flag-football being the dominant form until high school.
This reminds me of a similar initiative to ban or reduce heading the ball in association football. The US soccer federation were the first to ban heading for children up to the age of 10. The...
This reminds me of a similar initiative to ban or reduce heading the ball in association football. The US soccer federation were the first to ban heading for children up to the age of 10. The Football Associations of England, Scotland and Ireland followed up by banning heading in training for the same age range, but not in matches (it's not a big part of matches in that age range anyway, they argued). These changes were motivated by studies that showed significantly increased risk of degenerative brain disease in professional (association) football players. What impact heading specifically has is unclear, although it can cause concussions.
Tackles in American Football seem much higher risk than headers in soccer, so this seems like a good idea. Not being American, I had kind of assumed that kids in the US don't play full-contact football before high school. Like, why isn't it like this already?
This is true, but it will happen anyway unless you set the age limit close to or at adulthood (maybe 16-17). Does "learning body contact" really help the kid who hasn't had his voice drop nor grown a hair on his chest avoid injury when he gets tackled by that 6'1 170 pound kid?
Anecdotally as well, when I played soccer as a kid -- which may not be as brutal as American football, but still often results in injuries in adults -- nobody really got seriously injured until people started hitting puberty. Our bodies were simply not capable of sufficient force (unless extremely bad luck was involved) to cause any serious injuries. The rules didn't change when we hit 12-13 years old, the only thing that changed was our size, speed and power, which made the same tackles much more dangerous. Having had that experience of playing the same game at an earlier age doesn't seem to have made any impact.
Maybe the sports are just that different. A soccer tackle isn't really something where you can learn to take a hit. It's foot on foot/leg. The goal of the person in possession of the ball is to get past the defender with control of the ball, ideally by avoiding getting hit at all. But if somebody does hit your ankle/shin/knee there's really nothing whatsoever you can do to mitigate the damage; whether it results in an injury or not is decided by the actions of the defender and luck at that point.
Oh it absolutely is it's just more subtle than in hockey. If this wasn't a thing Messi would be dead or crippled by now. Just like hockey you can't realy protect yourself from unexpected malice but if you look at all the "professional free kicks" (in my language) being awarded during a match that's exactly what that is.
I think we may be talking about different things. Most fouls from tackles are basically trips. Player falls down, that's it. It looks the same at all levels of play from the Sunday league to the Champions League. I don't think it takes any particular skill to not get injured by such low-risk tackles - or if there is a skill to it, it's one that's easily internalized by players at all levels of play, because it follows naturally from physics. Most tackles are like that because most players are not trying to get sent off with a red, nor to cripple their opposition.
But a high-risk tackle (which may be malicious or just unlucky) is something else. If somebody smashes into your knee or ankle, say, there isn't much you can do.
I do think Messi has been exceptionally lucky in his career. He's picked up numerous minor injuries, like all professional footballers, but has missed less than 90 days in twenty years. With just a little bad luck any of those injuries could have cost him months or even years of recovery. And conversely, if it isn't luck and is actually some particular skillset, it's one that sets him above even other highly regarded professionals. He's quite possibly the best footballer ever. It's not something you could teach to children anyway. Every season you see professionals picking up career-derailing injuries due to, basically, bad luck.
Maybe we are and I'm not disagreeing completely.
I disagree and that's why when you for an example see inexperienced professional defensive player being tripped during a rare instance where he's in attacking mode it just looks "funny". Just like a sunday leauge player. That's because he's hasn't learned this skill properly. These instances are getting more rare since this skill it's just the norm now and not just for forwards anymore. It's kind of like how a skateboarder can try a dangerous trick multiple times without getting seriously hurt where non-skateboarders would get hurt on the first try.
I agree malice and bad luck we can't do anything about and Messi has had his share of injuries and luck but he has this skill. Not particular more skilled than a lot of others but it has definitely helped him not getting seriously injured in the long run.
You can watch the PSA here
This is a pretty major PSA from a well-known star from the NFL. I think this is long overdue and important for child development and the health of the sport. As CTE becomes more researched and established, I think the trend will either be American-style football being banned in some jurisdictions or flag-football being the dominant form until high school.
Of course, the questions about safety in football date back to the early 20th century. You can read about that and how Teddy Roosevelt played a role in saving American football here
This reminds me of a similar initiative to ban or reduce heading the ball in association football. The US soccer federation were the first to ban heading for children up to the age of 10. The Football Associations of England, Scotland and Ireland followed up by banning heading in training for the same age range, but not in matches (it's not a big part of matches in that age range anyway, they argued). These changes were motivated by studies that showed significantly increased risk of degenerative brain disease in professional (association) football players. What impact heading specifically has is unclear, although it can cause concussions.
Tackles in American Football seem much higher risk than headers in soccer, so this seems like a good idea. Not being American, I had kind of assumed that kids in the US don't play full-contact football before high school. Like, why isn't it like this already?