What’s under my feet?
What’s under my feet?
Impact attenuation testing is essential in ensuring that“what’s under your feet,”issafetocatchyou when you fall while at high-intensity levels of play.The Triax device tests the impact attenuation.The TRIAX is a piece of equipment that determines the Head Impact Criteria (or HIC),and the MaximumG’s felt on impact (or GMax) by using relevant data provided by completing test drops from determinedfall heights. We use two types of devices, depending on the surface we are testing.The “A Missile”is the instrument fortesting the impact atenuation of Turf, commonly used forSoccer and Football.The “E Missile” isthemost-commoninstrument fortesting the impact attenuationof wrestlingmats,rugbyfields,and playgroundprotective surfacing.The missile is the piece ofequipment dropped by the TRIAX device. Both missiles test the Impact Attenuation of the ground, thustesting its potential for injury reduction.Injury reduction goes deeper than looking at the direct injuries but also the indirect injuries.Anexample of a direct injury could be a concussion or a sprain, while an indirect injury could be joint painslater in life from running on hard surfaces as a youth.There is a reasonconcrete is not the approvedsurface for sports liketrack and field. The ground under our feet needs to be soft enoughsoourathletes can run andpush the limitswhile reducing the risks of developing muscle soreness, joint pains,concussions, or even broken bones. Different surfaces create different impacts,which affect yourmuscles,bones and joints in different ways. “I’m convinced that if you run on softer surfaces, yourcareer will last longer,” states two-time Olympic indoor track champion MarcusO’Sullivan.