Why Do Football Players Wear Tape on Their Arms? – The Ultimate Guide
Some football players may have tape covering the back of their arms when you watch a game. You may wonder why do football players wear tape on their arms.
To protect their arms from burns and abrasions from the field turf, football players wear white tape on the backs of their arms. When being tackled to the ground, the Kinesio tape helps shield minor cuts.
Why do football players tape the backs of their arms? We’ll explain in this article.
Why Do Football Players Wear Tape on Their Arms?
Why are the arms of football players taped? Football tape is used by NFL players to shield themselves from minor cuts and prevent scratches when they land on grass.
Alvin Kamara, a fan favorite, is another reason why these white tapes gained notoriety. This guy wears a band down his entire arm as opposed to covering crucial areas like the elbows and knees.
As a result, white tape is gradually establishing its dominance at the league level, from high school to the NFL. Numerous running backs and wide receivers can be seen sporting tape on the back of their arms.
Arm Protection
Turf burn results from fast skin contact with the turf surface. On the skin that feels like burns, they essentially scratch. This burn will become infected if left untreated for a long period of time after being exposed to sweat and bacteria.
Covering and protecting the skin is the only way to stop turf burn. However, sports players’ activities won’t let them do that. It is no different from torture to wear long sleeves or long spandex underwear in the heat.
Many athletes use turf tape to protect delicate areas like the elbows and lower knees from turf burn. These components don’t have a safe covering, so when they come into contact with the ground, they might be exposed.
In addition to covering and shielding the skin from turf burn, this bandage can keep sweat and dirt from adhering to the wound and fostering infection.
For those who frequently collide with the pitch but don’t want to use Kinesio tape, try the following alternatives:
- Turf sleeve for elbows
- Leg sleeve for knees.
The Kamara Effect
Alvin Kamara, a star running back for the New Orleans Saints, has helped spread awareness of this white tape known as kinesiology tapes. Nearly every game, he wears tape.
Many fans have debated and developed intriguing theories in relation to this incident. To safeguard his body while playing the game is the first justification. Kamara’s bold and forceful style of play, in which he consistently exhibits long slides on the grass.
According to some other viewpoints, the running backs use the tapes to stand out from the crowd. Since Kamara has been sporting a bandage since college, this could serve as her distinguishing mark for family and friends.
Even the notion that this turf tape makes Kamara faster has been floated. They call it “racing stripes”.
The overall Kamara brand is fundamentally based on this elbow supplement. Youth football players who play with turf tape are starting to look up to him as an example.
What is the Taping Made Up of for Football Players?
Kinesiology tapes are the specific type of arm tape, and you can typically find them in brick-and-mortar stores as well as online retailers like Amazon. Adhesives and mesh make up the tape’s composition, which gives the arm a secure hold. Nike, Kinesio Tape, HARUTO, and other well-known companies all sell Arm Tape. This tape should be applied to the back of your arm similarly to how a band-aid is applied.
What Kind of Tape Do Football Players Wear on Their Arms?
It’s called turf tape or Kinesio tape. The arm is covered in an adhesive that keeps them from being scraped by the ground. The adhesive will stay on the player’s arm for the duration of the game.
This tape will be worn by football players from the bottom of the wrist to the back of the tricep.
Up until the late 1990s, grass fields served as a common venue for football games.
Since the invention of field turf, the game has been played on these artificial surfaces.
Although turf is simpler to maintain and manage, playing on turf increases the risk of cuts and scrapes for football players.
Players who play on these turf surfaces will wear the white turf tape on the back of their arms for this reason.
Why Can’t Players Wear Sleeves Instead of Turf Tape?
In some games, sleeves are not recommended because of the heat; however, players can choose to wear sleeves in place of arm tape on their triceps. It will be too warm to wear sleeves, for instance, to play a game in Jacksonville in the first few days of September. In this situation, tape is useful. Your body will stay cool thanks to the tape without the need for sleeves.
What Positions Wear Football Tape?
Football tape can be worn on the back of the arms by any football position player. Running backs, wide receivers, and linebackers are frequently seen wearing this tape. However, most quarterbacks prefer to wear sleeves instead of this tape in case the motion of throwing causes the tape to come off during the game.
Do I Need to Wear Tape on the Back of My Arms?
Wherever you need to avoid getting turf burn, wear turf tape. What parts of the turf do you frequently touch? Taping up the back of your arms makes a lot of sense if you’re a running back who gets tackled to the ground frequently or a wide receiver who lays out to make a catch before getting dragged down and along the turf out of bounds.
A specific image is also projected depending on how and where you tape. Alvin Kamara, an NFL player, has made it clear that taping up both arms’ backs is as much about fashion as it is about performance. And as long as you abide by the regulations of your league, there is nothing wrong with that.
Conclusion
Football players tape their arms primarily for two reasons: to avoid getting turf burn and to look cool. Players can benefit from combining the two because it produces a placebo effect, allowing them to feel secure while also appearing fashionable. Try to spot any other players with this material covering their arms when you are watching your next football game.