Football Equipment Guide

Posts Tagged ‘Helmet’

Rawlings, Sports Industry Leader in Head Protection, Introduces NRG Helmet to National Group of Sporting Goods Team Dealers
ST. LOUIS–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Rawlings today announced that in August it will launch its highly anticipated Rawlings NRG football helmet, which was unveiled last Friday to more than 100 sporting goods team dealers from throughout the nation during a two-day gathering at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
The introduction of the NRG helmet formally signals a new and significant “total solution” emphasis on football for Rawlings, which also last week introduced the latest version of the state-of-the-art Rawlings S100 batting helmet during Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game in Anaheim, Calif. Rawlings is the official batting helmet of Major League Baseball and Minor League Baseball.
The NRG football helmet, which will be seeded geographically in August and October ahead of a nationwide launch in 2011, joins the Rawlings S100 baseball batting helmet to further support Rawlings’ leadership in protecting the heads of athletes.
NRG – for Neuro Responsive Gear – will be the flagship brand name for the full Rawlings helmet line, which consists of the NRG Quantum for elite-level competition (adult and youth) and the NRG Momentum for youth players. Rawlings also unveiled its SRG line – for Skeletal Responsive Gear – of pads and undergarments that will offer the most complete head-to-ankle combination of protective and performance from one football brand or company. A video demonstrating Rawlings’ full line of protective equipment can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/rawlings1887#p/a/f/0/6ymfTuLITog.
(or view the video below)

The NRG football helmet will lead the brand’s comprehensive advance into the competitive and growing football protective gear and apparel category. The complete Rawlings family of football products, including Zoombang™ protective gear and AIMS™ shoulder pads, was introduced to team dealers by Rawlings president Robert Parish and other company executives.

“Best-in-class head protection is a signature attribute of the Rawlings brand, and that core value is at the heart our new Rawlings NRG football helmet line,” Parish said. “The introduction of the NRG football helmet is significant on numerous fronts. First, it provides Rawlings the opportunity to offer a total solution, or total protection from head to ankle. And it delivers an extremely important message to team dealers, athletic directors, coaches, equipment managers, parents and players, and that is Rawlings is fully, 100 percent, committed to football.”

Presenters from Rawlings recapped the brand’s history in the game and its vision for football with the help of Cowboys Stadium’s $40 million video board above the field. Team dealers in attendance represented locally based sporting goods companies that work and sell directly to high school and college athletic directors, coaches, equipment managers and consumers.

“I think the most important thing to come out of these meetings is that Rawlings has a story to tell,” said John Lassiter of Midwest Sporting Goods in Tulsa, Okla. “They’ve put a lot of effort in getting their football product to this point and it’s pretty impressive. It’s a good story, good technology.

“The most impressive thing they presented was their concept of providing a complete program from uniforms to protective apparel to helmets to shoulder pads. It’s a complete package and maybe the only company in the industry.”

“I think that in just the last couple of years we’ve seen some real technological changes in football equipment and helmets,”

said team dealer Bob Fawley of Capitol Varsity Sports in Oxford, Ohio.

“Rawlings has recognized that at this point they needed to come to the market with a story and technology in place and, based on what I’ve seen here, that’s exactly what they’ve done.

“The football parent and coaches that are out there in the marketplace today want to know how their helmets perform and why. Not that many years ago that question wasn’t being asked. Now with the heightened awareness of concussions and the discussions that are going on, families and coaches want to understand why the helmet performs the way it does.”

“The helmet meets a real spot for us dealers, for quality and price, which we think will be great,” said team dealer John Stote III of Anaconda Sports in Kingston, N.Y. “I liked the way that Rawlings talked about supporting dealers, which in this industry always hasn’t been a strong point. They’re talking to us, they showed their cards, and they brought us in to show us.”

About Rawlings:
Rawlings is a leading marketer and manufacturer of baseball equipment and other sporting goods in the United States. Rawlings is the Official Baseball and Helmet of Major League Baseball® and official ball of the NCAA® baseball championships. Rawlings is also the official basketball for the NAIA®, NJCAA®, AAU® and many other organizations as well as official football of the NAIA®. Rawlings is the official basketball, football, baseball, softball, volleyball and soccer ball of the National High School Federation®. For more information, please visit www.rawlings.com.

Article From: http://www.businesswire.com

In the game of football, it is essential for players to receive proper training.  If you (the player) wants to excel, you must work with your coaches, not only on your training regimen, but also on what equipment is going to work best for you.  Training with the proper football equipment will turn you into a better player and as a member on your team, you will bring your skills to the team, making it a better team.
There is a tremendous variety of football equipment to use for training, but there are only a few items that are considered “core” pieces of equipment.

You might think it a waste of money to invest in training equipment, or maybe you just need to know where to start?
First of all, you need to know this – the ultimate purpose of training equipment is to allow you and your team to be able to practice at a higher level of intensity without risking injury. Unless your trainers are flipping idiots, your potential for things like shoulder, neck, and head injuries are dramatically decreased when using things like blocking sleds and padded dummies.  Just these two pieces of equipment alone will allow you and your team to feel similar resistance to what you’ll find on the field without having to crash head to head with another live body.

As mentioned earlier, there are just a few pieces of training equipment that, if you have them, you have an excellent start. These pieces of equipment coupled with proper coaching can quickly set you on the path to athletic excellence.

Blocking sleds are a necessity.  This is without question.   They allow for the simulation of real life blocking complete with weighted resistance of a real player (which leads to less of a chance for injuries for both players). Blocking sleds can usually be found in sporting equipment suppliers individually or up to five blocking dummies on one sled. This option is perfect for simulating a line-up on the gridiron.

If you want to make the simulation just a tad more realistic, perhaps for quick blocking drills. Look into some padded dummies.  These are filled with foam typically, or for more weight, you can find them filled with sand or beans. The sand or bean filled ones are the best value. These pads are perfect for helping players learn how to take some real weight down with the risk of injuring a real person.

For quarter backs, you need to get yourself a good weighted football.  I shouldn’t have to explain what these are for, but I will.
First of all, they’re heavier than normal footballs (hence the name weighted football). These are great for giving a quarterback more resistance when throwing, which helps make their cannons more powerful for firing out quick and accurate spirals. (Work on your finger roll technique if your spirals aren’t tight enough yet).

For your receivers, you’re going to need (or at least highly want) a jug machine. These babies fire spirals out at your receivers at varying speeds and heights without any rhyme or reason. The best of these machines have adjustable velocities and angles.

Can’t forget about the kicker can we? Your kickers needs are going to be pretty basic, but just as essential as any other players. Remember, these are your clinch guys, treat them right!  A regular kicking tee is great.  No frills. Get him practicing with a kick-off tee and a rubber block tee.  The rubber block tee will help raise the height of the tee giving them better connection percentages.
And more importantly, unless you hate your kicker, get him a kicking / punting cage. You gonna want this guy to practice his kicks and punts more than his ability to fetch his own balls (haha).  These cages are netted and as long as the kicker is aiming correctly, the ball should land right in his parameter making it easier to set-up and try again.

For all players, their is going to be pieces of equipment which they should all have, but in varied types. For example:

Shoulder pads & helmets- Two pieces of equipment that are used frequently to identify the sport of football. These pieces of football equipment are going to be varied depending on the position. If you’re in a position where you’re getting hit a lot, especially laterally, you’re going to want to get some shoulder pads which can accept a good set of restrictors such as butterfly restrictors, neck rolls and lateral restrictors. If you’re a lineman, get a helmet with some extra caging on it. They’ll keep your opponents fingers out of your eyes. Kickers, you usually don’t need much more than a single bar cage going across the front.

Gloves- Lineman and linebacker gloves have some extra padding which is perfect for their frequent contact with their hands. Unpadded hands connecting to hard football equipment is god-awful. Lineman and linebackers…you need some good padded gloves!
For your wide receivers, you’re going to want some gloves with a little extra stickiness. This will help you snatch those hail mary’s out of the air quickly and efficiently.

Cleats- Whether you’re getting screw-in or molded cleats, check the name and the quality. This is one area that a lot of players forget to pay real attention to. What height do you need? Low, 3/4-high, high? That, as usual, depends on what position you’re playing. Solitary position players can get away with low-top cleats while lineman are going to be looking for high tops and 3/4 tops. For kickers, good ole’ soccer cleats will work just fine for you but here’s a pro-tip, wear them a size smaller. It will make your task of kicking easier as they will make your feet compact and solid.

These are all core pieces of equipment. Check back later and I’ll go over some “nice to have” pieces of football training equipment.

The shoulder pad neck roll is a piece of football equipment that attaches securely to the shoulder pads and helps to stabilize the helmet, which in turn stabilizes the head.
Styles vary on these from manufacturer to manufacturer. There is never one single way to attach them. As a rule of thumb, always consult the instructions for your specific brand on how to make sure your neck roll is attached properly.
The most typical set up is done by attaching the string on the back of the neck to the back of the shoulder pads. Your neck roll should also have side strings which you use to attach to the (inside) sides of the shoulder pads and finally, there are usually 2 more strings on the front which you use to lace onto the front of the shoulder pads.
Make sure your strings are tight and secure.

More advanced versions come with snaps which lock onto the shoulder pads. These are going to be brand specific and will only be able to snap onto the shoulder pads manufactured by the same company that made the neck.
These pieces of football equipment usually run in sizes small all the way up to XXXXX-Large.
With that being said, you can see how wide range the support is for this piece of equipment. It, as well as a few others I mention in this blog, have become almost as integral as the helmet.
Parents: If you plan on sending your child out for school football, check with the athletics department for these supplementary neck and head equipment.
If they do not offer them as part of their teams equipment, you would serve yourself well going out and investing in this and other pieces of equipment.
The prices are usually minimal compared to the price of having to get a neck injury treated.
$50.00 to $75.00 is the usual price these pieces of equipment are going for.
Check back later for some personal reviews of different shoulder pad neck rolls.

Back to “How to Prevent Burners in Football”