Should helmets be mandatory in pairs skating?

[JeanA]

You are correct.
For a tiny skater, extra 200 grams would ruin the entire program. Gravity is ruthless.

1 US cup (c) of water = 240 milliliters (mL) or 240 grams (g).

So, maybe the Eteri team is correct that skaters should water restrict before a competition, because a cup of water would ruin a skater's entire program? Do you agree with that?

 

[el henry]

I understand the resistance to helmets, truly I do. I did not want helmets on my manly men Flyers as they cruised down the ice. Yuck, who needed them, how would they affect sideways passes and all sorts of other wonderful athletic feats.

It seems to me if skateboarders who are flying up into the air, twirling around, needing the vision and perception to know exactly where the skateboard is in relation to the ground, can adjust to helmets, so could skaters.

Whether such helmets currently exist or could be adapted to figure skating, I do not know.

 

[Diana Delafield]

What?! It was Ice Hockey helmets that they gave you to try. My goodness! Even I know big clunky things like that would be no use at all for figure skating. No wonder you were complaining about the weight and lack of vision.

Did the people getting you to test them actually know anything about figure skating, and the desire to keep the centre of gravity low so that you do not topple over when doing elements?!

No, I was envisaging you testing something more slimline, such as American Football helmets with the front cage removed. Although they seem to be of a similar thickness to ski helmets, American Football helmets cover much more of the face. Which to me seemed to tie in with your complaints about the much reduced peripheral vision. But, what you were actually describing would have been much worse than what I thought you were describing.

Maybe it would be worth somebody running a test with ski helmets, or those "in-between" helmets that I was describing (I don't know what they are called). Because I am sure either would be much better to work with than ice hockey helmets.

Oh, they knew. This was a first experiment in testing to see what *didn't* work and why. I'm sure there have been other tests of prototypes since then that I just wasn't part of. The one small helmet we tried was a 1990s version of a bicycle helmet and it didn't protect the side and back enough. It would have been OK if one were dropped straight down headfirst, but that kind of fall rarely happens. And the "beak" sticking out at the front hit my partner when I came down from a twist lift too close to his face.

Actually, there already is a product that works well, https://www.icehalo.ca . I have half a dozen Ice Halos in assorted colours and wear them in practices although not in, for instance, the performance we did at our club on New Year's Eve. I don't know why they haven't caught on more widely. They're very lightweight, you can put them under a bun or flip a ponytail over the open top, and the velcro fastening clings to the hair enough to keep them in place. I know several people in curling who wear them, that being a sport where concussions happen in falls by people wearing just shoes on the ice.

(And I'm sorry, but the mental image of helmeted ballet dancers in a pas de deux, where there are also more injuries than you hear about, makes me giggle.)

 

[Anna K.]

Actually, there already is a product that works well, https://www.icehalo.ca . I have half a dozen Ice Halos in assorted colours and wear them in practices although not in, for instance, the performance we did at our club on New Year's Eve. I don't know why they haven't caught on more widely. They're very lightweight, you can put them under a bun or flip a ponytail over the open top, and the velcro fastening clings to the hair enough to keep them in place. I know several people in curling who wear them, that being a sport where concussions happen in falls by people wearing just shoes on the ice.

This solution is awesome
Someone needs to make it a trend.

 

[ladyjane]

Actually, there already is a product that works well, https://www.icehalo.ca . I have half a dozen Ice Halos in assorted colours and wear them in practices although not in, for instance, the performance we did at our club on New Year's Eve. I don't know why they haven't caught on more widely. They're very lightweight, you can put them under a bun or flip a ponytail over the open top, and the velcro fastening clings to the hair enough to keep them in place. I know several people in curling who wear them, that being a sport where concussions happen in falls by people wearing just shoes on the ice.

That's even better than my winter hat with protectors! Perfect for training!

 

[moonvine]

Given everything we know about concussion and CTE, does more need to be done to protect -- especially -- the partner being lifted and thrown?

An ultra lightweight helmet would be better than nothing. A speed skating helmet is about 300 grams. Even something thinner and more lightweight would be better than a bare skull slamming into the ice right?

And does the sport need some kind of injury time out system so that skaters can be saved from themselves?

It would be harsh, but a one fall and you're out system would work. Not too many skaters win major tournaments with a fall in their program, so it's unlikely a fall would decide a major event, plus the skaters would take less risks knowing what jeopardy a single fall brings. Probably brings added excitement to the sport.

I'm surprised there is essentially no safety equipment. I used to ride horses in the 80's, most of us only wore helmets when showing, and we ran the chinstrap not under our chins, we ran it over the brim so the helmet was essentially useless.

Things are a lot different now. People wear air vests that puff up when they fall to prevent injuries, and the helmets are much different.

I've long thought that if there's a fall they need to stop the routine, especially if the skater's head is hit. If you remember Ash and Tim, at worlds, they let them keep falling until a stretcher had to be brought for her.

 

[Mathematician]

Pairs skaters getting a severe concussion or long term CTE from a fall is thankfully quite unlikely relative to other sports given that the partner will be able to support them on their fall and mitigate the impact significantly. It often sounds as though they hit the ice really hard, but the acoustic properties of ice compared to concrete or other material exaggerate the effect quite dramatically. It might seem that the partner doesnt mitigate much impact but im certain it does.

Regardless, I agree that perhaps in a perfect world they would be wearing helmets anyways, but skating is as much an art as a sport so that level of aesthetic hinderance is probably never going to be accepted. There are significantly greater risks and sacrifices people take for art, it comes with the game.

 

[lariko]

I am all in favor of athletic clothing that would fit what the athlets are actually doing, to increase safety and performance, versus three feathers, a handful of crystals and a meter of spandex they wear now.

 

[Skating91]

After that horrific injury at a Disney which left a woman convulsing on the ice and in a critical condition in hospital, surely it is a wake up call for the sport to mandate helmets.

Even if the ISU and various federations don't care about skaters suffering head injuries, it seems this is potentially an enormous liability issue for everyone involved.

At least mandate helmets for the juniors to protect the health and potentially lives of children. That was the justification for increasing the age rule (although it hasn't done anything to stop 15 and 16 year olds becoming injured they simply get injured in juniors now instead). This poor woman at the Disney show may have permanent brain injuries and it was entirely preventable with simple safety equipment.