Heads-up Stabilizer

ARE YOUR PLAYERS PLAYING THE SAFEST HOCKEY POSSIBLE?

I don’t know about you, but I get an uneasy feeling every time I spot another headline or article about a young hockey player experiencing a serious neck or spinal cord injury.  Ya, they surely DO get MY attention (frankly, the potential for this kind of injury scares the hell out of me)…

Up front, I don’t have the medical expertise to tell you all there is to know about this revolutionary new piece of equipment.  But, I CAN tell you what I learned long ago from USA Hockey’s “Heads-up, Don’t Duck” program…

Basically, spinal cord injuries most often occur when a player lowers his or her head — or tucks his chin to his chest, this causing the bone segments of the spinal column surrounding the spinal cord to form in a straight line.  If a player’s head hits the boards, another player or a goal post in such a posture, that force is transmitted to the aligned vertebrae.  And – with just a minimal amount of force, a fracture of one of the cervical vertebrae can cause compression on the spinal cord.  And it’s this compression that results in paralysis.

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Thankfully, this type of injury is rare if it occurs when the neck is in a normal or neutral position.  And, the even better news is that there’s now a way to help a hockey player keep his or her head up.

Enter the Heads-up Stabilizer!

• helps to reduce the possibilities of whiplash injuries
• helps to reduce neck shear force
• helps to reduce the head from flexion
  
• provides total mobility except the ability to lower the head
• places a player in the anatomically correct position

Now, I’ve watched some of my youngest kids recently wearing their Stabilizers, and I can see that it prevents each of them from moving their head into a vulnerable posture.  However, my real area of expertise happens to involve the principles of motor learning, and that’s what’s attracted me even more to this specific piece of equipment…

You see, whatever an athlete does for any length of time is what he or she ultimately does without thinking.  So, just supposing a young player practices – aided by the Stabilizer — keeping his or her head-up for a considerable length of time…  Pretty shortly that heads-up posture is going to be the way he or she moves around the ice.  And, the more the player wears the Stabilizer, the more the proper posture will be ingrained.

The HEADS-UP HOCKEY STABILIZER teaches a player the
proper techniques of BENDING at the waist keeping the player in the anatomically correct  HEADS UP position.

Ah, but there might just be some skill benefits associated with that device, as well…  I am forever talking to my students about splitting their vision between the puck and the ice around them as they work on puckhandling.  “It’s all about the eyes,” I’ll tell them.

What I’m getting at here is that my many years of teaching this skill suggests to me that the Heads-up Stabilizer is also going to greatly enhance a player’s stickhandling ability – or, his or her comfort in handling with the head up.  And, if he or she has learned their lessons well at an early age, they’re likely to play the game rightly — years later — when the games gets a little rougher.

Oh, by the way…  Eyes-up puckhandling usually also helps players to see all their passing and scoring options too!

• improves stick handling
• increases vision
• teaches muscle memory through practice and repetition
• teaches a player to look forward not down
• increase muscle memory in a player not to drop the head
• increase muscle strength in a players neck

Now, one other thing…  Of course, I’d love to see every player in our game wearing one of these — right now.  Still, I’m a realist, and I know how some older players will resist.  That’s why I’m especially urging every parent of a very young hockey player to get his or her youngster to wear the Stabilizer as soon as possible.  In other words, get them used to it very early, and make it as natural as donning their skates, gloves and helmet.

The HEADS-UP HOCKEY STABILIZER also:

• helps to reduce the possibilities of whiplash injuries
• helps to reduce neck shear force
• helps to reduce the head from flexion
• is fully adjustable to fit ALL hockey players
• provides total mobility except the ability to lower the head
• places a player in the anatomically correct position
• teaches a player to bend at the waist not drop the head
• teaches a player not to drop the head at contact
• teaches players to keep head up at the boards

Finally, you really should click the button below to discover a lot more about the Heads-up Stabilizer.  That link will take you to their website where you’ll find some great videos and other valuable information.  So go ahead…  Click on the link…  I think you’ll be glad you did (and, you might just breathe a little easier)…