Salon.com > Joseph A. Lapin http://www.salon.com Tue, 21 May 2013 20:42:22 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 Will concussions kill football? http://www.salon.com/2012/12/15/will_concussions_kill_football/ http://www.salon.com/2012/12/15/will_concussions_kill_football/#comments Sat, 15 Dec 2012 14:01:00 +0000 http://www.origin.railrode.net/?p=13125711 Pacific Standard Each year about four million young athletes play football. It’s estimated that between 11 and 15 percent of those children get a concussion or mild traumatic brain injury (TBI). According to a 2011 study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there has been a 60 percent increase in all youth athletes treated for TBI in the past decade.

To combat growing unease among parents and observers, USA Football, the official football development partner of the NFL, created Heads Up Football, a program designed to help reduce head injuries in high-school football. The program has a nice website, videos, and a national advertising campaign. But the main component is making sure children are taught proper tackling technique.

The “better and safer tackle,” according to a USA Football video tutorial, is when an athlete begins from the proper stance, explodes from the hips, and leads with the chest—all with the intent of keeping the head up and out of the tackle.

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