If Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa strengthens his neck muscle mass, retains his chin near his chest when he falls, and learns to land on his shoulder and roll as a substitute of touchdown on his again, it’ll go a great distance towards avoiding concussions.
That’s not me speaking, that’s what Ailton Barbosa thinks. Barbosa is a third-degree Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt and teacher at American Top Team/Coconut Creek, one of many nation’s finest MMA groups.
The Dolphins are having Tagovailoa examine jiu-jitsu within the offseason. They hope it’ll educate him fall with out that whiplash impact of his head hitting the bottom.
“I think it’s going to be helpful for him,” Barbosa mentioned.
Jiu-Jitsu turned out to be the profitable concept for the Dolphins.
Coach Mike McDaniel mentioned the group had numerous concepts for educating Tagovailoa fall and keep away from concussions.
“We were willing to go to any length,” McDaniel mentioned eventually week’s NFL scouting mix. “However, with him getting invested in [jiu-jitsu] and actually speaking to him and listening to how the coach is invested in him and the way he was actually into it and getting good residuals from it, we really feel very snug when it comes to this being finest making ready him for issues that he hasn’t in any other case been in a position to put together for.
“It’s something, like a follow-through throwing motion, it’s something that we’re trying to train and he’s 100 percent all in, attacking it with vigor and exuberance.”
If this works, it’ll be regarded among the many finest offseason strikes the group has made.
Keeping Tagovailoa wholesome is likely one of the Dolphins’ largest keys to success subsequent season.
Some NFL analysts assume if Tagovailoa stays wholesome, the Dolphins can have an opportunity to make a deep playoff run — one thing the franchise hasn’t achieved in additional than three many years.
Tagovailoa, coming into his fourth NFL season, had 25 touchdowns, eight interceptions and a league-leading 105.5 passer score final season. He would have gone to the Pro Bowl as an alternate, however he was nonetheless recovering from a concussion that he sustained towards Green Bay on Christmas, roughly 5 weeks earlier.
Tagovailoa sustained two recognized concussions and three head trauma incidents final season. They induced him to overlook 5 begins, together with the 34-31 playoff loss at Buffalo.
Tagovailoa should study a number of methods via observe and repetition to keep away from head trauma, however Barbosa thinks he ought to have the ability to grasp these ideas as a result of he’s a professional athlete.
Barbosa mentioned the important thing coaching objectives for Tagovailoa are to strengthen his neck, and when he falls he should maintain his chin tucked near his chest, which retains his head off the bottom, and land on a shoulder. These are issues Barbosa teaches his fighters.
“You can learn it with practice,” Barbosa mentioned. “It’s like anything you learn, it’s going to be a process. You’ve got to get strength, he’s got to adjust himself.”
Tagovailoa isn’t learning jiu-jitsu beneath Barbosa or at ATT.
In truth, Barbosa, a Brazilian native, mentioned he doesn’t know a lot about American soccer.
However, Barbosa has seen all three of Tagovailoa’s head trauma incidents from final season — towards Buffalo, Cincinnati and Green Bay — and has an concept how he’d practice Tagovailoa.
First, he’d strengthen Tagovailoa’s neck muscle mass with weights.
“He has to strengthen the neck because of the helmet,” Barbosa mentioned.
He’d have Tagovailoa lay on the bottom, head up — on his proper aspect, on his left aspect, and on his again — and do neck workout routines to additional strengthen the neck.
Barbosa mentioned the bottom line is to all the time maintain the pinnacle up and off the bottom.
“I think it’s a technique he’s got to get used to over and over, like muscle memory,” Barbosa mentioned.
When Tagovailoa is falling, there are guidelines to forestall your head from whipping to the bottom.
“Always, your head is going to be up,” Barbosa mentioned, “your chin is going to be close to your chest.”
You additionally wish to land in your shoulder and roll versus, say, touchdown in your again.
“When they swing you backward,” Barbosa mentioned, “you want to try to land on your shoulder.”
Barbosa mentioned that may be managed even when Tagovailoa is flung to the bottom, because it occurred in Cincinnati.
“When you go backwards, your chin is going to be here,” Barbosa mentioned, placing his chin to his chest. “Always. Always.”
Learning to fall is a giant factor, Barbosa mentioned.
“When you fall backward or forward, we do a lot of rolls,” Barbosa mentioned of MMA coaching.
Preparation for falling is as necessary as understanding land, Barbosa mentioned.
“In American football, it can come from any direction,” Barbosa mentioned of the jarring hits quarterbacks maintain, “but when you know something is coming you’ve got to be ready. MMA is the same thing. You kick, I’m ready. You shoot double leg, I’m ready. If I don’t block the takedown, at least I’m going to fall in good position.”
For Tagovailoa, falling in good place is as necessary as making correct passes.
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Source: www.bostonherald.com