The Evolution of the Batting Helmet In the beginning years of baseball, there was no head protection for batters. Since there were so many injuries and even one death, the batter's helmet was invented to help protect the heads of batters. There were many people who were part of the creation and development of this invention. There are still ongoing tests to improve the safety of the players in baseball. The invention, development and use of the batting helmet in baseball saves lives and can prevent traumatic brain injuries. Baseball is the sport most likely to cause injury. One pitching strategy is called “beaning.” This is when the pitcher throws the ball towards the batter's head to back him off the plate. This sometimes causes fatal or permanent …show more content…
There were many that realized that batters needed to be protected during the play of the game. There were many inventors and developers that went into the making of the batting helmet. The first person credited with creating the protective helmet was Roger Bresnahan (“Roger Bresnahan”). There were many that realized that batters needed protection during the play of the game. Some of the most notable or important inventors were Walter Dandy, Roger Bresnahan, Larry MacPhail, Pat Moran (Granillo), and Dr. George E. Bennet (Brewster). Even though there were many life-threatening injuries, players did not want to wear the safety gear. “In the ultra-masculine sports world, some players thought that helmets made them appear weak. Others found the extra equipment distracting or too heavy. Either way, they’d rather risk injury or even death playing baseball their way (“A Look Into the History of Baseball Helmets”). In 1905, the very first piece of headgear was created. It was described as a “boxing glove wrapped around the batter’s head” (Granillo). Roger Bresnahan made an earmuff design to protect the side of the batter's head when batting
Albert G. Spalding created the first major league baseball glove. “Wearing a glove just wasn’t manly” said Smithsonian. It used to be that the strongest player on the field was whoever had the most broken fingers or blisters, but after a while, players realised they
The safety of the players is the biggest concern in all levels of baseball. The belief that metal bats result in more injuries than wood contributes to the reasons MLB does not allow their use. One contribution to this belief is the difference in exit speed of the ball off the different bats. It was found that aluminum bats produce an average of 92.5 miles per hour exit speed, compared to wooden bats averaging an 88.6 miles per hour exit speed ("Baseball: Wooden Bats Vs. Metal Bats"). This is a difference of 3.85 miles per hour, which is significant considering the time it takes for players to react to a hit ball ("Baseball: Wooden Bats Vs. Metal Bats"). A study shows that it takes 0.4 seconds for a ball hit 93 miles per hour to travel 54 feet, and because the pitcher's mound lies at 60 feet-6 inches away from home plate, the pitcher has less than 0.03 seconds to react to a line drive hit to them (McDermott). While compared to the time it takes to blink an eye, 0.095 seconds, pitchers do not stand a chance against a line drive (McDermott). The use of met...
Wearing headgear has many positives, reducing injuries is the most obvious one and it could be argued that its help reduces the chance of injuries and even death. At an elite level, Chelsea goalkeeper, Petr Cech is convinced that wearing headgear saved him from suffering extended injuries after colliding with Fulham striker Orlando Sa back in September 2011. Headgear offers a form of padding when worn. It allows juniors and elite athlete’s the reduced chance of head wounds. By this it means it allows for less “cracked skulls”, scars, wounds and so on. It gives a stronger protection on the softer part of the skull which is more prone to damage...
American football is full of exciting competition, but do we realize the danger! Helmet safety in football remains an immense problem as the sport accounts for the highest incidence of concussions. Since leather football helmets, the technology for safer helmets has improved drastically and continue to improve. The development of newly designed helmets and technology has lowered the risk of head injuries for players. Furthermore, improvements in helmet testing methods have led to better understanding head injuries and the protectiveness of the helmet. In respect, football helmet safety still remains a challenge, such as a necessity of a proper categorization system to rank helmets and regulations to improve helmet safety. Regardless, standards and regulations attempt to address helmet safety through government intervention and a proper measuring system for football helmets. Despite the cultural perception of football, measures are taken to ensure safety, such as the reforms and education with regards to playing safer football. I intend to address the technological advances and regulation of football towards the discussion of helmet safety. Therefore the aggresivity in football’s culture should embrace stronger helmet standards and regulation that are promoted through improved testing methods and innovations because of the need to prevent further dangerous head injuries, especially concussions.
Baseballs require a coat of white leather stitched with red seams to cover the nine-inch circumference and 2.8 inch diameter. They are easy enough for a child to hold. Also, a baseball weighs only five ounces, which is like holding a deck of cards. Because a baseball is lighter and easier to hold, baseball players have better control of the ball. When I played little league baseball, I never witnessed any teammates suffer from being hit by a baseball. In that sense playing baseball does not create much of a risk of
Football is a sport your mother warns you not to play, but your father is on the other side of the argument, encouraging you to do it because it is a “man’s game”. Even though you don’t want ruin your manhood, your mother is always right. Football is in the top three of most injuries caused in sports (HEALTH GRADES, INC) and a majority of it comes from concussions. A concussion is a temporary unconsciousness caused by a blow to the head. Football helmets are used to prevent that from happening and is still a battle today on creating the perfect helmet to protect these young athletes. The football helmet has undergone significant transformation during the evolution of the game. To find out how this important head gear came to be, you have to
The goal is to achieve and to attain certain knowledge of concussions and proper helmet safety and to propose new suggestions to help decrease the incidence of sports-related concussions.
("N.F.L. Players’ Union Weighs the Benefits and the Pitfalls of Helmet Sensors. This technology helps prevent a player with a concussion that he doesn’t know about from continuing to play during that game and cause more damage to his head that can last forever. Another good advancement is helmets that have a design that uses energy-managing materials and a facemask attachment system that disperses energy from frontal impacts. This helps prevent the head from taking the main part of the blow and disperses the energy to lessen the likelihood of becoming seriously injured from a hit. These types of helmets have a certain shelf life meaning you can only use them for so many years before they have to be replaced, this is beneficial so that the equipment stays up to the new standards of safety for the players as well as prevents them from becoming stressed over the years and breaking.
First off, the knuckle ball. It is called the hardest pitch to hit. A pitch that seemingly floats like a butterfly and then magically drops into the strike zone, dumbfounding the batter and almost always resulting in a strike out. But how is this pitch actually thrown? The name of the pitch essentially entails how the pitch is thrown, the pitcher curls his fingers into his hand, placing the knuckles of his fingers on the ball, and releasing the ball in this manner and fashion. But why does this work? It comes down to the position of the laces. By throwing the ball off the pitcher’s knuckles, the ball exhibits no spin throughout the entire duration of the pitch. This allows different lift forces within the air is passes to exert themselves upon the ball. By doing this, the ball is subject to different planar movements as a result of different lift forces manifesting themselves upon the baseball that is thrown. In a simplistic explanation, this is why a knuckle ball “knuckles” as it is thrown.
In American football, helmets are required to decrease traumatic brain injuries and have been successful in doing so. A large part in the success of helmet design is improvements in technology. The sizes of athletes have gone up to make football more dangerous. To protect against brain injury, helmets designs have changed to become heavier and wider, filled within the space are energy absorbing materials, air space and padding to protect the skull upon impact. Originally, helmets were designed to prevent only traumatic brain injuries, but technology is advancing to fill the gap of concussions. Until recently, the seriousness of concussions were not considered part of the equation that needed to be addressed, so manufactures did not utilized in constructing helmets to address this issue (Post et al. 653). Upon predicting risk of concussions in tests, by themselves linear and rotational acceleration are not suitable measurements for modern helmets. These testing measurements do not address the rotational forces and minor hits to the brain which are associated with concussions (Post et al. 654). Given the seriousness of concussions in contact sports, more attention is given to prevent and reduce concussions through testing methods and advancing technology, stronger regulation and changes to the sport. As stated in the article involving the National Football League (NFL), “The risk involved in playing sports are also very real. The NFL is struggling with serious mental and physical health problems because they sustained repeated mild traumatic brain injuries, is what concussions are called. (“Concussions and Marketing of Sports Equipment” 6).
Helmets drastically reduce the tremendous number of deaths caused by head injuries as well as reducing the severity of any ...
Americans began playing baseball on informal teams, using local rules, in the early 1800s. By the 1860s, the sport, unrivaled in popularity, was being described as America's "national pastime." Alexander Joy Cartwright of New York invented the modern baseball field in 1845. Alexander Cartwright and the members of his New York Knickerbocker Base Ball Club devised the first rules and regulations for the modern game of baseball.
While the use of helmets does aid in protecting players from brain trauma, they also increase the risky behavior of players; this is called risk compensation. Risk compensation is the adjustment of individual behavior, responding to the perceived changes in risk (TheFreeDictionary.com). Most people that wear helmets have a pre-conceived idea that, because they have a helmet on, they can possess more daring behaviors and be fine. The helmet is basically thought of as a tool to hit harder, or improve performance in today’s culture. Adventure writer and pilot, Lane Wallace (2011) accurately understands the dangers of helmets being used incorrectly, and how they are used as weapons instead of safety. Wallace also theorizes like the NFL, a change in football culture and of viewpoints towards helmets would vastly reduce trauma to the
Even though the advantages of the helmet designs are extensive, the football players are put in dangerous and sometimes unexpected situations on the field. Players are running and hitting each other at full speed while not taking into consideration what they are doing, and considering the consequences. Sometimes with head related injuries, these players may not feel any symptoms until later on in the day, or even day...
Many reasons for this big change in sports related head injuries, mostly has to do with the protective equipment used and the regulation...