Safety in sports is a preeminent issue, especially among high school athletes. According to the CDC, “more than 2.6 million children 0-19 years old are treated in the emergency department each year for sports and recreation-related injuries.” Developing a greater understanding of practice technique is essential to approaching this problem.

In this studio, we will study common sports injuries as well as existing sports safety measures and equipment to try to enhance current standards for injury prevention. Students will build physical prototypes of designs which seek to mitigate injury for athletes. These design ideas can modify existing technologies or propose completely new solutions.

The Cheer-a-Mid: A strong, wooden structure used for cheerleaders to practice their motions while not actually being in the stunt. A stunt is used in cheer to hold up athletes in the air. Cheerleaders usually have many different motions to memorize. The Cheer-a-Mid helps to prevent stunting injuries in cheer-leading by allowing them to practice stunts closer to the ground before in the air.

The Cheer-a-Mid is made out of laser cut 1/4th inch plywood. It is held together in a waffle-like grid that is shaped like a pyramid. The foot-piece, added for a more experienced flyer, is made out of PLA plastic on the 3D printer. This is meant to mimic a real life stunt. It is meant for one-foot stunts, a technique more commonly used in competitive cheer-leading rather than high school cheer-leading.

Cheerleading has one of the highest injury rates of all sports. Many injuries occur when cheerleaders fall out of their stunts when they don’t know their motions. To prevent this, The Cheer-a-Mid helps cheerleaders practice the motions before actually going up in the air.

The Cheer-A-Mid: a wooden structure designed to help prevent injuries in cheer-leading. Cheerleaders can practice their motions using the Cheer-a-Mid. This will prevent injuries by educating flyers on what to do when they get in the air. A stunt is when you hold a girl up in the air. The flyer usually does motion and stretches. Cheer-leading is a very dangerous sport with a lot of injuries. Cheerleaders become injured when they fall out of stunts or mess up their tumbling. Falling out of a stunt occurs when they have not practiced or do not fully know what they are doing. Our project will help these athletes with their practice before they go into the air. 

The Cheer-a-Mid is made out of quarter inch plywood. Structurally, it is put together as a waffle grid. The two foot pieces help more experienced flyers do more complex things. We made these out of PLA plastic with the 3D printer. 

The JerkNot is a fishing glove that utilizes a 3D printed piece that prevents you from jerking or breaking your wrist incorrectly while casting.

     JerkNot helps to prevent carpal tunnel syndrome which is caused by a pinched nerve called the median nerve in your hand and wrist. Whenever fishers cast, they want to move their wrist in a flicking motion from left to right, not up and down. Flicking their wrist up and down increases their chance of pinching their median nerve. The device itself is a 3D printed piece that attaches to a fishing glove that protects against getting fishing hooks in the hands of the fishers and also helps them can grip their catch more securely.

     Initially, I began with just a glove that prevents hooks from getting stuck in the hands of fishers but I wanted to start focusing more on the wrist when you fish because when casting, all the power comes from the wrist. If the median nerve gets pinched, it not only affects the cast of the fisher but it also puts avid fishermen and fisherwomen out of their passion for some time. With that being said, I combined the idea of a fishing glove that prevents hooks getting stuck in the hands of fishers with something that would prevent the median nerve from being pinched.

AccuTemp: A wearable core temperature monitor that will buzz when people exercising overheat.

We started this project with a device that would be worn as a wristband or a headband. We began with sketches and even looked at parts what parts? online. Our plan then, was to sew some arduino lilypad boards and pieces onto the fabric. Another way we were thinking about doing it was to create a little pocket with all of the sensors and stuff.

We started thinking after this, “What part of your body represents heat the best?” We researched body heat, and to our surprise, we learned that the lower back, right on the spinem, heated up the fastest. We then changed our project to fit on your back. This is how we determined the spacing on the body. We needed to design a shell that could fit onto your back. We went onto Fusion and designed a 10x9 cm box then curved the bottom side to fit into your back. We printed it out and added foam and straps to the back to add more comfort. Next, we created the electronics and code to go with this device. We had to solder all of our circuits and attach them to the shell. We finished it all off with a clear plastic top for demonstrational purposes.

Our project is designed to be worn on your lower back, with the strap fitting comfortably underneath your clothes, right on your stomach. A temperature sensor on the AccuTemp enables players to get the most accurate reading to stay cool while exercising.  

The Shoenami is a minimalist shoe that allows an outdoor runner the barefoot feel but still protects the runner from the elements in nature. The shoe is made of  thin layers placed under the foot.  

Many people love to run but  big soles in their shoes make it almost impossible to run the correct way. My partner and I wanted to make a bare minimum shoe that allows the runner to run with the correct technique.  We were able to meet with a New Balance designer and talk about the different pressure points in the human foot. After testing this(cardboard test) we chose to put thin padding where the most pressure was being applied. The  bare minimum shoe called for very thin straps to make ultra lightweight. 

The Deflexiwrist Glove: A glove that notifies the user when they are putting with an incorrect form.  This is meant to correct bad habits and create muscle memory over time to putt the correct way.

The Deflexiwrist Glove was made to solve the problem of incorrect putting form. People that putt with incorrect form can end up having accumulative pain in their wrist and putting stress on the wrong joints from doing the improper stroke over and over.  This glove provides a way to practice how you putt and prevents future pain and discomfort.

The process of making the glove started with a simple splint inserted into a sleeve in the fabric of the glove to keep the wrist stationary.  The first function for a user is to use the splint, preventing wrist movement. When they feel they are ready to take out the rigid structure and test their muscle memory, they simply slide out the hard splint and use the electronics to test themselves. The glove utilizes a rechargeable battery, an Arduino nano, a flex sensor, and a buzzer.  It alerts you when you are breaking the correct, straight plane formed from your elbow all the way to your knuckles when putting.  The ideal putting stroke is one where you keep your wrists immobilized and allow your shoulders to do the work.  However, untrained golfers often develop the habit of using a flicking motion with their wrists to putt when they are first learning.  To create the correct form in users, whenever the flex sensor on the Deflexiwrist Glove is bent, the glove emits a noise to alert the user that they are putting incorrectly.