We start football next week with full gear and pads. So, where do we put the pod to minimize the impact that it will take? Any suggestions from anyone with experience would be a great help.
Thanks in advance!
I don’t have any personal experience w/ the pod and football pads, but I am pretty sure a pro football player (or maybe at least a college player?) who uses a conventional pump had a spot in his pads cut out so that his pump laid flush in the “hole”. Maybe there’s a way you could do that for the pod, depending on where your son wears it? It seems like it might take a few attempts before you come up with the best solution, since depending on his position, he’ll likely get hit from nearly every side. Keep us posted on what kind of plans you come up with and how they work!
I always wondered this myself. I got Diabetes after my Football days. I think it would depend on what position your son plays. But that is a tough question…
I know Jay Cutler (QB for the Bears)wears an insulin pump, and I always wonered where he had it. I imagine it is on his hip, jsut like most pumps. Maybe you could try that(?) keep us posted!
I haven’t donned football pads for a long time, but my inner thigh makes a good spot for playing basketball. It stays protected there. You’d have to make sure the thigh pad doesn’t intefere, but I think most are cut out around the groin area. Good luck!
My 16 year old son uses his arms with an self-adhering wrap for ice hockey. At one point we were also using a Under Armour BBall Compresion Sleeve. We have not lost a pod to hockey yet even with all of the checking!
As a rotation, he also uses his upper buttocks under compression shorts.
There was a prior post where high school boys were using their thighs under compression pants. (You may be able to search and bring it up). Our CDE thought that my sons thighs were too lean so we have not tried that yet but Nick looks a bit younger and may have some good spots that will absorb.
I think you will find that the pods are not so delicate as long as they are stabilized with a wrap or compression type garmet.
We have a few items that we use when pods come loose that we can use also. However, a strong wind would blow my 75 pound son away. He’s always been skin and bones and the only spots we can put the pod comfortably are around the top of his but. Right now, we are on the side of one of his thighs and had to use a special bandage to keep it in place for the next 2 days. These things are great but cost $5 a piece.
Do you know what position your son will play? I never wore a pump when I played football, but thinking back, he shouldn’t have too many problems with placement for drills and conditioning, but how much contact does he expect to experience? I would say the biggest danger to the pod will be grabbing and stripping more than from direct impact.
For general guidelines though, I’d completely avoid anything near the midsection and hips. Every tackling drill focuses on isolating the midsection. He’s going to get grabbed around the waist at some point, or take a shoulder pad to the midsection, hips, and lower back. It may not damage the pod, but it won’t feel good. I’d avoid legs for the same reason. If he’s carrying the ball, he’s going to get grabbed around the legs, which could strip the pod, or take direct impacts to the thigh area.
I’d try the upper arm on the upper part of the tricepts, or even on backside of the shoulder. His shoulder pads will give a lot of protection from direct impact in either area and you can wrap some kind of padding around it to protect it furthur if it’s on the upper arm with minimal impact on his gameplay. Upper arms under the shoulder pads are a difficult area to grab a hold of without grabbing the shoulder pads themselves first.
Good luck!
You should look into buying a roll of Vet Wrap for example.
Search on Vet Wrap at www.kvvetsupply.com
It will wrap around the pod and keep it secure.
Very cheap.
Don’t be put off by the name, the human version is the same and costs about 10x more…
Wow, it must be really costly to make the same stuff in a flesh color . That’s a good price for that wrap. You’re right about the human version being much more expensive.