BSU Athletics: Ball State Football Safety

Safety at BSU:

There is always a lot of concern about football and the safety of players within the sport. This will talk about how players are trained, protected, and prepared for the game of football at Ball State University. There is a lot that goes into preparing for a football season. College football players have rules put into place to ensure player safety is met. Throughout the training year, the team is not allowed to go over 20 CARA hours weekly. CARA stands for countable athletically related activity. This includes any physical activity that players could go through (conditioning, lifting, practicing). All physical activity players that usually get a lot of reps are put in a catapult vest. The catapult vest tracks the player's heart rate and speed and gauges how the player's body is responding to the physical activity to ensure their safety is being met. When players start practicing there are soft shells put on players helmets to limit the level of helmet-to-helmet contact. These are some things that the cardinals have in place to prevent, protect, and prepare their bodies for the season.

Training Blocks:

Winter & Spring-

It starts in the winter with winter workouts. This is where the heavy lifting is done and conditioning as well. They work out every other day working different muscle groups to give other muscles rest. They also have a day for recovery and stretching the body to make sure your body is getting proper care and recovery. Then the spring with spring ball and more workouts. The loads are different in the weight room because of spring ball practice. They also only lift twice a week during spring ball. The reps in spring ball practice are well divided between different teams to ensure players are not overworked. Throughout the offseason, there are times when the chiropractor comes, and players can get some work done for free.

Summer & Fall Camp-

Then there is summer where you get to your primal condition for the season. This is when they focus on speed, acceleration, and explosive movements. This is where players focus on running techniques and mechanics to ensure players do not hurt themselves while running. This is also to prepare for the workload the players will get during training camp. Training camp is a two to three-week period where player loads are the highest on the field. For players ice baths are mandatory and they will also have pool days once a week for recovery. During the offseason, the training room is always open for when players want to get any extra recovery in. The weight room and strength coaches are also available for extra recovery as well. They also have message guns, and normatec boots for extra recovery too.

In season-

During the season players have a light lift the day after games. This is so players' bodies can get functional movement to decrease the soreness and stiffness that comes after the games. Two days after the game is the player's off day when they can go to the pool for recovery. While the weight room and training room will be open for extra recovery. Then players during the practice week have Thursday, and Friday where there is little to no contact between players at practice. This is so the player's body has time to rest before the game on Saturday.

In season lift:

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Ball State Football players are trained and prepared to take the hits that come with the game of football. With their long offseason, they take great pride in allowing players to recover and take care of their bodies. If players feel like they're being overworked or if the program is going over their CARA hours, they always have the option to report it to the athletic director for it to be investigated.