What?? A Mouthpiece That Can Record Impact

To Read About This Cool Mouthpiece!


Stanford University is recording the level of impact a player experiences, whenever they come into contact with another player. The sports which have agreed to participate in this study are not only football, but also women's field hockey and lacrosse.

This is remarkable! There have been studies with microchips in helmets to help record data, but not mouthpieces. Helmets were difficult to use because they would shift during play, but mouthpieces stay pretty stable in the athlete's mouth. It is going to be very interesting to see the data collected in the 2011-2012 season and getting to see the recorded data in 2012. The researchers hope that the data will help determine the amount force generated upon impact and how it affects the injury experiences by the athlete. They hope that the recorded data from the mouthpiece will help to predict what kind of injury has occurred at the brain. This is because athletic trainers and physicians are unable to see the brain. However hooking the mouthpiece up to a computer, may be able to help athletic trainer and physician make a more concrete decision about what the next step should be to help to athlete to recover from the traumatic brain injury.

I believe that if this mouthpiece works the way that the researchers intend it to work, it will help change the face of concussion diagnosis and treatment. There will be no more, maybe they have a concussion, maybe they don't. We as athletic trainers always do our best to er on the side of caution when dealing with a head trauma, but with the ability to have a mouthpiece to help solidify our decision on the field, it could really help keep the athlete safe. Stanford is the only school to take part in this study, I do believe if this study shows positive results, that it would be beneficial for more schools and teams to participate in order to collect as much data as possible in order to determine more precise information for diagnostics. It'll be interesting to see where this research goes next!

In The News: Dietary Supplements and the NCAA

Dietary Supplements may NOT be telling the whole TRUTH

This article states the importance of athletes AWARENESS of what supplements they are consuming! Many products that are out on the shelves for athletes to buy that are being showcased to give athletes that competitive edge, are products that may or may not contain substances that are banned by the NCAA. These supplement can and will force the athlete to be PULLED FROM THEIR SPORT for failing a drug test! Do not get me wrong, athletes are aware of illegal products, they are being constantly told by coaches, athletic trainers, athletic directors and other individuals in administration which products not to consume, but what happens is that not EVERYTHING IS LISTED ON THE NUTRITION LABEL and this label can be misleading. Trace amounts of illegal substances could be in the product which your athlete is consuming and can lead to them testing positive on drug tests. It is important that the athletes know and realize that these companies are more interested in making money, then making sure that their product is free of any trace elements of an ergogenic substance. Another important fact is that pretty much anything and everything that you can digest as an athlete to give you that competitive edge you are looking for is most likely banned by the NCAA. They are really cracking down on the use of ergogenic substance use. This is why it is important that an athlete should start to focus their energy on having a well planned out work out schedule on top of a great nutrition plan. These two factors are what an athlete needs in order to become bigger, stronger and faster then their counterpart. Yes, it may take longer, but it is that determination and hard work that got you to where you are now as a collegiate athlete and if you continue on with that mantra it will make you into the athlete you strive to be.