Sports Training Visor with Opaque Region for Head Position Feedback
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional methods for training athletes to maintain a vertical head-up position during contact sports do not provide instantaneous feedback, leading to a risk of head-down contact and associated injuries such as concussions.
Innovation Solution
A sports training visor with an opaque region that blocks upper peripheral vision if the athlete lowers their head, combined with a light transmissive region and score lines for sizing, teaches athletes to keep their head in a vertical position by providing visual feedback.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional training methods are used to teach athletes to keep their head up, then training can be conducted without special equipment, but instantaneous feedback is not provided to let the player know if they are dropping their head
Solution Approach 1:
The visor incorporates an opaque region that provides instantaneous visual feedback to the athlete by blocking upper peripheral vision when the head drops below the vertical position. This allows the athlete to immediately sense and correct their head position during training, eliminating the information loss present in conventional training methods.
2Reliability
If a visor with opaque region is used to block upper peripheral vision when the head drops, then instantaneous feedback is provided to maintain vertical head position, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The visor is designed with a specific opaque region positioned to block only the upper peripheral vision when the head drops, while leaving other areas transparent or open. This localized approach provides the necessary feedback without requiring the entire visor to be complex or opaque, thus minimizing device complexity while maintaining reliability.
3Ease of operation
If head-down contact occurs during games, then the natural tendency of players to drop their head before contact is exhibited, but head and neck injuries including concussions and cervical fractures result
Solution Approach 1:
The visor provides continuous visual feedback during training to establish the habit of maintaining vertical head position before contact situations arise. By preliminarily conditioning athletes through repeated practice with the feedback mechanism, players develop automatic correct positioning that prevents head-down contact and subsequent injuries during actual games.
Data Source
AI summary
A method for training an athlete to adopt a vertical head-up position includes: placing a visor comprising an opaque region over the face of the athlete such that the opaque region of the visor blocks the upper peripheral vision of the athlete if the athlete lowers his/her head below the vertical head-up position; and having the athlete train with the visor over his/her face to teach the athlete to keep the head in the vertical head-up position, thereby minimizing a risk of head-to-head contact with another athlete during a game. An apparatus for training an athlete to adopt a vertical head-up position is also described.