How Much Is Your Brain Worth?

There is no bigger topic in sports in recent times than concussion prevention. In fact, there's a movie currently in theatres starring Will Smith of the same name, one I fully intend to see! Let's do our homework first.

The brain is housed in the skull, surrounded by "cerebrospinal fluid" which essentially acts as a shock absorber, protecting the brain from mild head trauma. But when the skull is moving at high velocity in a particular direction and comes to a sudden stop, the conditions are ripe for a concussion as the brain doesn't get the stop message as quickly as the skull and continues moving at a velocity exceeding the protection of the cerebrospinal fluid and bumps into the inside of the skull. When brain cells undergo that kind of collision, there is damage. The amount of damage varies greatly of course. The brain will usually recover with few or no side effects but occasionally those effects can be significant.

Another syndrome associated with repeated concussions is CTE (Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy). CTE is sub-concussive. It's what can happen over time as a result of repeated head trauma that may not fall under the concussion category. The symptoms of CTE can be life altering to the point that some people have committed suicide. A football player was once described as a person involved in five automobile collisions for each game when the player is playing a  contact position (eliminate the place kicker for example). Little wonder that the average career in professional football is three years!

Bob Weeks, in an article recently published (Jan. 15) on the TSN web site (TSN.ca), put light back onto Brad Gushue's unfortunate meeting with the ice surface during a Grand Slam event about 7 weeks ago. If you're a curling fan and like to watch every curling event either TSN or Sports Net broadcasts, I'm sure you were front and centre to see Brad fall to the ice surface or saw a replay of it, with his head making the first contact. Even though Brad returned to complete the game, to no one's surprise, he did suffer a concussion and according to Bob's article, is still experiencing some effects.

We're hearing a lot about concussions in sports, many sports, especially those of the collision variety (i.e. hockey, football etc.) as stated at the outset of this blog but rarely do we associate concussions with curling.

Brad's fall, as Bob pointed out in his article, has positioned the spotlight on the notion that perhaps we should start to at least explore the idea that curlers should wear suitable head protection so let me weigh in on that topic as it's one that is near and dear to my, no, not my heart although that is true, it's nearer and dearer to my head!

I'm a stick curler who conducts stick curling clinics. Stick curlers are more susceptible to falls for a variety of reasons not the least of which is due to the fact that the stick curler's head is a considerable  distance from the ice surface. By the very nature of using a stick to deliver a curling stone, the stick curler is much more erect than a curler with a traditional slide delivery. If a curler with that traditional slide delivery were to lose balance, it's much more of a "tumble" than a "fall" and the height from which that tumble begins is only a few feet. The body parts do not strike the ice very hard and do so in more of a rolling motion. It's unlikely, although not impossible, that one's head would come into contact with the ice surface. Even if a curler were to fall while brushing, it's still unlikely that one's head would strike the ice. A fall when brushing is almost always broken by the hands and knees.

The problem with falling from an erect position comes from the fact that the vast majority of those falls are "backward", not forward. When one falls forward, in most cases, the hands will break the fall with the head, as suggested above, not likely coming into contact with the ice. But, when one falls backward, even though one's backside is most likely to be the body part to first hit the ice, the head will soon follow! Have you ever heard the sound a skull makes when it comes into contact with the ice? I'm sure many of you have and it's a sound few can forget!

As I indicated, due to a left knee issue, when I play, which I do every Monday morning at the Glen Harper Curling Centre in Duncan, BC, the last piece of equipment I position before heading to the ice surface is my snowboard helmet onto my head. There are only two of us in the league that wear a helmet although there are a few others that have purchased a made-for-curling headband device that has a hard shell material at the back of the head. I still believe an actual helmet is better!

Stick curlers have another thing in common. Most of us have our junior curling careers well positioned in our rear view mirrors. Falls at our age are not fun and can have significant negative consequences. Besides a helmet, I encourage all curlers, not just stick curlers, to wear grippers on both feet. Obviously for a curler with a traditional slide delivery, the gripper on the slider comes off when delivering the stone but it should go back on when doing everything else for five solid reasons (see below).

I cringe when I see a stick curler delivering a stone with a slider! Yikes! It's not a case of "if" that stick curler will fall, it's only a matter of "when"! Again, regarding that age factor, many stick curlers are grandparents. I'm in Orangeville, ON as I write this, visiting my grandsons, Lucas & Jacob. I put my helmet on for them as much as for me! The same stick curler who does not wear a helmet would admonish his/her grandchildren if they did not follow safety protocols but then put themselves in harm's way but ignoring one themselves. Hmmmm?

All that said, anyone, regardless of one's actual curling delivery can fall from an erect position so I don't want to suggest that only stick curlers consider head protection!

Are helmets cool? No! But how much IS your brain worth?

THE CASE FOR GRIPPER/GRIPPER

1) You can brush from either side of the stone as it moves down the ice.

2) You will have more downward pressure on the brush head than if you are in a gripper/slider configuration.

3) You take the pressure off the knee of the slide leg when you walk on the ice as opposed to push/slide as one must do in the gripper/slider scenario.

4) When you walk back into position after brushing a curling stone from coast-to-coast you will recover more quickly than if you were to push/glide.

5) It's safer!!!!!