Football coaches in the Ivy League unanimously decided last week to remove tackling from regular-season practices, per a Tuesday report by Ken Belson of the New York Times. *They made the decision in an attempt to further limit players’ chances of suffering head and brain injuries. *A study done by Ph.D. holder Timothy A. McGuine—a senior scientist at the University of Wisconsin, Madison—showed the elimination of full-contact practices could decrease injuries at lower levels of the sport, per Bert B. Vargas, M.D., of Neurology Reviews. *One of the eight members of the Ivy League, Dartmouth, has been reducing the amount of full-contact practices since 2010, per Belson. Instead of hitting teammates, players hit tackling dummies and a “specially designed ‘mobile virtual player’ that moves across the field the way a player would.” *This is an easy enough equation: The less contact there is in practice, the less likely a player can suffer an injury that can hold him out of actual game time. *However, it does decrease the amount of time players experience the actual speed of play and get to hone their skills in game-like situations, something that could stunt a player’s development. It didn’t make much sense to radio talk show host John Ziegler: Ivy League banning tackling in practice to promote safety makes as much sense as the military banning use of guns except in combat #Liberals — John Ziegler (@Zigmanfreud) March 1, 2016 (BleacherReport.com)
