Below the waist, a players chooses pads depending on his position on the field. A fully suited player wears several types of pads, such as hip pads, knee pads and thigh pads.
How does protective equipment protect a player from injury?
When football players collide, the interaction forces can be very large. The force acting on a player during a hard collision can easily exceed 1000 pounds. To avoid serious injuries, players wear helmets, shoulder pads, and body pads as protective equipment.
Helmets are designed to prevent serious head injuries. A football helmet is a molded plastic shell lined with padding made from a compressible material, a face mask, a chin strap, and a mouth guard. A helmet must be properly fitted to a players head to provide effective protection.
Shoulder pads consist of a hard plastic shell, lined on the inside with padding. The pads fit over the shoulders and the chest and rib cage. Shoulder pads give football players their "broad-shouldered" look.
Below the waist, a players chooses pads depending on his position on the field. A fully suited player wears several types of pads, such as hip pads, knee pads and thigh pads.
How does protective equipment protect a player from injury?
Protective equipment can increase the collision time and therefore reduce the magnitude of the interaction forces, and it can distribute the interaction forces over a larger area and therefore decrease the pressure.