Ivy League =tackling in game only = good idea????

[Ralph Damren]

TR met with Ivy League leaders back in 1906 in plea to make the game safer. According to a news blurb I caught this morning (many of you may know much more) the Ivy League may be becoming the vanguard of attempting to make the game safer. It was mentioned that a plan was to eliminate tackling in practice and a clip was shown of some Dartmouth players chasing a robot around the field - I believe that was once posted on our forum. Anyone know more or have an opinion???

[UmpSC]

Per their twitter feed https://twitter.com/Ivy_Athletics  they will be discussing this on today's Outside the Lines on ESPN. 

[Curious]

Eliminating the PRACTICE of tackling is, IMHO, a bad idea.  Proper tackling technique is, in and of itself, NOT unsafe.  What is unsafe is the teaching - or correction - of "dangerous" (face tackling, head-butting, missile-type) techniques.

Lack of practicing PROPER technique leads to poor habits, unsafe contact, and injuries (especially concussions).  I do think, however, even when teaching proper technique, daily practice time should be limited - as some states have already mandated.

[HLinNC]

Full tackling during in-season practice has fallen by the wayside at most places I frequent anyway.

[Ralph Damren]

Full tackling during in-season practice has fallen by the wayside at most places I frequent anyway.

Maine has a timetable of practice lengths, pads worn and contact allowed during pre-season. I've haven't paid much attention, as I've always considered that "rule 11" and beyond my worry. Perhaps I should make it my worry, as it pertains to safety. 

[Rulesman]

Eliminating the PRACTICE of tackling is, IMHO, a bad idea.  Proper tackling technique is, in and of itself, NOT unsafe.  What is unsafe is the teaching - or correction - of "dangerous" (face tackling, head-butting, missile-type) techniques.

Lack of practicing PROPER technique leads to poor habits, unsafe contact, and injuries (especially concussions).

[GAHSUMPIRE]

Eliminating the PRACTICE of tackling is, IMHO, a bad idea.  Proper tackling technique is, in and of itself, NOT unsafe.  What is unsafe is the teaching - or correction - of "dangerous" (face tackling, head-butting, missile-type) techniques.

Lack of practicing PROPER technique leads to poor habits, unsafe contact, and injuries (especially concussions).  I do think, however, even when teaching proper technique, daily practice time should be limited - as some states have already mandated.

Agree 100%

Tackling is not the problem. Tackling INCORRECTLY is the problem. There should be more emphasis and practice on that, not less. Whether that practice always includes another "live" body or not is debatable-that is why they have tackling dummies- but the point remains not enough players use the correct technique. Taking that practice time away isn't going to help that.

[Osric Pureheart]

Here's an NYT article about this.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/02/sports/ncaafootball/ivy-league-moves-to-eliminate-tackling-at-practices.html?emc=edit_th_20160302&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=37551499

Killer quote, from the Dartmouth head coach Buddy Teevens:

Mr. Teevens said that his restrictions on full contact in practice helped reduce the number of concussions his team sustained to just a handful each season from about 20 a year before full-contact practices were eliminated. The number of neck, back and shoulder injuries also declined noticeably, he said.

“You’d have more stuff occur because we were banging each other,” he said.

Mr. Teevens said that contrary to some fears, his players have become better tacklers. Players still tackle from 500 to 800 times a year, but instead of launching themselves at other players in practice, they focus on how they tackle to avoid head collisions. The number of missed tackles in games has fallen by more than half, he said.

“It hasn’t hurt our level of play,” he said. “It’s actually made us a better team.”

In the past three seasons, Dartmouth has finished third, second and tied for first in the conference. Other teams paid attention to Mr. Teevens’s methods. “Winning the championship this year legitimized it.”

Game, set, and match.  There's also the example set by John Gagliardi, who coached winning teams without full contact in practice for nearly 50 years.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/19/sports/ncaafootball/19coach.html
http://www.leagueoffans.org/2012/01/24/q-a-with-john-gagliardi/
http://onlyagame.wbur.org/2012/09/08/john-gagliardi-football
http://www.newsday.com/sports/columnists/john-jeansonne/the-unique-style-of-john-gagliardi-1.4261593

[Ralph Damren]

Thanks, Osric, for your great research on this. Coach Teevens got his head coaching start at the University of Maine back in the mid 80's. He was only here for a couple of years but had a winning team (for Maine that was like winning the Super Bowl) before moving on to Dartmouth and turning the Big Green in to a winning program. In his short time here, he was very well respected as a level headed coach who always put the player's welfare first. He tried playing with the big dawgs (Tulane & Stanford) but returned to Dartmouth ,where football was second to education.

I assume Ivy League players have always put their brains ahead of their knees in safety measures. It appears that now the schools and the league echoes that. Will this spread to other/all corners of the NCAA?
If it does, I'm sure the pressure for change will approach our level.

Our beloved game needs survival skills...this may be one.

[VALJ]

I agree that the issue isn't tackling itself, but the technique used in tackling. That said, the less opportunity for tackling incorrectly, the better, I think. We've all seen the stories that talk about the number of sub-concussive hits a player gets over the course of a week's worth of practice, and that a large number of those can be as bad, or worse, as the concussions.

If the decreased attention in practice to tackling results in better form tackles, and less of the "Sportscenter hits" that most players are inclined to try for - as counter-intuitive as it seems - I'm all in favor of it. 

[bama_stripes]

Killer quote, from the Dartmouth head coach Buddy Teevens:
“You’d have more stuff occur because we were banging each other,” he said.

And more stuff after practice, too........

[stevestod]

After operating the clock at Dartmouth a few times over the last few years, I met Coach Teevens and he is a stand up guy for the players on the field.  I have seen the robot tackling dummy that the science students designed and built.  It is pretty cool idea!!

[prab]

Anyone ..................... have an opinion???

Danger is a small price to pay for excitement.