Sports injuries are common in all kinds of sports: contact or non-contact.
Not all injuries are serious, but some can be fatal, even causing death in rare cases. As a result, the government and national health organisations have established several safety standards for athletes and recommend using protective gear to stay safe.
That doesn’t mean you go out and spend money on some random safety equipment. You will need to answer several important questions before purchasing, like what’s the purpose of the equipment, whether a well-known brand manufactures it and if it complies with the established safety standards. Only then will you have the perfect gear to play safe.
Sounds complicated? To make things easier, we’ve curated this guide to discuss various safety equipment used in different sports and which ones to choose.
So continue reading!
Essential Safety Equipment
1. Protective Eyewear
An Australian Institute of Health and Welfare study reveals that one can prevent most eye injuries by wearing standard protective eyewear. It applies to athletes or anyone who plays a contact or non-contact sport.
Protective eyewear can include specially designed eyewear for snowboarders or skiers. These 3mm polycarbonate glasses are rugged enough to survive any fall, and an ultraviolet layer protects the eyes from harmful radiation. Apart from that, sports goggles are available for tennis players and other racquet sports like badminton, squash, lacrosse and hockey.
Wicket keepers in cricket wear specially designed goggles and helmets to protect their eyes from the hard cricket ball. Even professional fishers must keep their eyes protected against fish hooks that are sharp enough to damage them.
So, go for trendy and tinted goggles and sunglasses that fit your face and style while they protect your eyes.
2. Helmets & Headgear
Cricketers, boxers, cyclists, skiers and football players should wear helmets to minimise the chances of head or brain injuries. Any mishit or bad fall can lead to brain haemorrhage and even death.
These helmets are specially designed and tested against a wide array of impacts of various sports types. Of course, the impact range of one sport differs from that of another, so a basketball player cannot wear a cricket helmet and vice versa.
Lastly, the helmet or headgear must fit the player’s head properly to protect it from damage.
3. Face Protection
Fractured facial bones are most common among boxers, hockey and cricket players when fierce repetitive punches or a ball hits a player. Face guards and batting helmets are worn to remain safeguarded from such injuries.
Besides that, the lips, mouth, gums, teeth, cheek and tongue are vulnerable to such blows, resulting in fractures and even concussion, depending on the severity of the impact. Hence, it’s important to wear mouth protection for sports like hockey, boxing, squash and rugby, where tussle and collision among players are high.
These guards are available in various sizes, so you should opt for one that fits your mouth perfectly and doesn’t restrict breathing and speaking. A loosened or a tight guard doesn’t serve its intended purpose. Also, ensure they are durable, certified by a reputed agency and manufactured by a well-known brand.
4. Guards, Pads And Straps
In contact sports like rugby, hockey or cricket, it’s crucial to wear guards and pads to prevent or minimise injury to the shoulders, neck, chest, arms, elbows, wrists, thighs, knees, ankles and shins. Guards are made from various materials, from hard plastic to soft padding, depending on the game’s intensity.
Cricketers wear shin guards, knee pads and shoulder pads to stay safe from joint injuries, cartilage damage, sprains and fractures to the shin, knee and shoulders respectively. Aside from that, cricketers wear thigh pads to prevent severe bruising and rupture of the thigh muscles, whereas elbow pads are worn in racquet sports like tennis, inline skating and hockey.
In sports like snowboarding and ice skating, wrist guards and knee pads can be very beneficial. An athlete generally falls on his arms directly upon a sudden wipeout, which can potentially break their arms or wrist.
Additionally, ankle stabilisers, both functional and rehabilitative, are popular in athletics. Many studies reveal that bracing and taping of ankles don’t affect the ankle’s stability. Wearing a lace-up brace minimises the force experienced on the ankles from sudden inversion, while a semi-rigid brace provides better protection and effectively prevents rear foot motion.
5. Protective Clothing And Footwear
Reinforced or padded clothes are exquisitely designed for specific sports, as are the various shoes and footwear. Football or rugby players wear sports cleats with plastic spikes to maintain a grip on the ground and minimise the risks of falling.
On the contrary, running shoes worn by athletes are optimised and designed to minimise the overuse of ankle joints and feet. Similarly, cyclists wear cycling shoes to keep their feet safe from pain and ensure fast and secure pedalling. And court shoes that offer superb comfort, traction and support are designed for tennis, basketball and racquetball.
Remember wearing good shoes protects your feet from injuries and fractures!
Keep Sports Injuries At Bay With Basic Sports Safety Gear
That’s all we have to tell you about essential safety equipment you must wear while playing sports!
Wearing proper gear while playing allows you to stay safe from injuries. Most sports involve several participants at a time with many intense movements, and anything can happen at any time.
When preparing to play a particular sport, determine the safety equipment you need to protect yourself from injury. Ensure that the equipment is of optimal size and in good condition. Sports are a great way to stay fit and enhance the quality of life, but injuries can take you back where you started.
So, protect yourself for the least risk and best experience. And don’t forget to speak with our team if you need assistance. At MMA Factory, we stock a vast range of protective equipment for combat sports. With that, we’d wrap up this guide and see you another such informative guide.
Until then, take care, and stay healthy!