Ice hockey shoulder pad design and the effect on head response during shoulder-to-head impacts

Ice hockey body checks involving direct shoulder-to-head contact frequently result in head injury. In the current study, we examined the effect of shoulder pad style on the likelihood of head injury from a shoulder-to-head check. Shoulder-to-head body checks were simulated by swinging a modified Hybrid-III anthropomorphic test device (ATD) with and without shoulder pads into a stationary Hybrid-III ATD at 21 km/h. Tests were conducted with three different styles of shoulder pads (traditional, integrated and tethered) and without shoulder pads for the purpose of control. Head response kinematics for the stationary ATD were measured. Compared to the case of no shoulder pads, the three different pad styles significantly (p < 0.05) reduced peak resultant linear head accelerations of the stationary ATD by 35–56%. The integrated shoulder pads reduced linear head accelerations by an additional 18–21% beyond the other two styles of shoulder pads. The data presented here suggest that shoulder pads can be designed to help protect the head of the struck player in a shoulder-to-head check.     

Teaching distance learners in Wales

Open University students and staff in Wales often have to cover large distances to achieve face‐to‐face contact. To provide accessible tuition and counselling on an equitable basis is recognised as a difficulty in the differential provision of resources compared with a compact and densely populated region such as London. However, as disparities grow and budgets shrink, historical tolerance cannot be taken for granted. Heddwyn Richards, Senior Counsellor in the Open University in Wales, provides an analysis of the tutorial problems of student distribution and geography in a low population region.