By: Gerard Hennessy

Gerard Hennessy — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 15:09:00 +0000

Players also have to be accountable you know after a hit if your feeling hurt or woozy to come out its a great game but you gotta care about your health once games are over. Im happy how there changing gear to protect the head and it will help keep them down. Coaches also need to help teach hitting properly especially with guys crossing over from football to lax.

By: RPS66

RPS66 — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 17:34:00 +0000

Another thing that needs to happen to reduce the amount of concussions you see in lacrosse, the ref at any game needs to take some responsibility in enforcing the rules on late hits, leading with the head and following through with hands to lift the player after the hit.
Lacrosse is not football and as a coach myself i try to teach the 7th and 8th grade kids i coach to hit correctly with the shoulder but as many of them play football they naturally hit front on and tend to lead with the head and lift with their hands after the hit.
This also causes a secondary collision of the head with the ground once a player is knocked off his feet, grass is a little forgiving in this instant but if you play mainly on field turf, as nice as it is to run on it is not very forgiving to a collision with someones head as they fall backwards.
So this to me comes back to have refs educated to make calls effectively so to reduce the number of times players are hitting the way they are. Penalties should be given for illegal hits and too many times i see a non call, this sets a precedent for that type of play to continue.
Coaching plays a big part in this but enforcing the rules also plays a big part in protecting players from season or career ending head injuries.

Comments on: Concussions & Lacrosse: A Growing Concern

By: Gerard Hennessy

By: RPS66