Need Help With Player Development? Your Players’ Mouthguards May Help

As a coach, one of your main responsibilities and duties — whether you’re at the youth or collegiate level — is to develop your players. And that means furthering their development both in the athletic sense and on a personal level.

One of the simplest ways to do that is by putting your athletes in a position to be successful and providing them with the tools to perform at their best. Easier said than done, right?

Believe it or not, something as simple as a mouthguard goes a long way to helping you develop your players. Here are three ways mouthguards help your players develop into better athletes:

1. Take A Breath

In order to reach their peak performance, athletes must be properly trained and conditioned for their particular sport and position. That includes fitness and training routines, diet, hydration and even pre-game habits.

Breathing also plays a major role in training and achieving elite performance. Learning the proper breathing techniques is important to overall health and wellness, but also integral to how an athlete performs on the field, court or ice.

Much like the nasal strips commonly worn by athletes, custom mouthguards are designed to open up the airway for optimal oxygen flow. The more oxygen an athlete takes in, the more enhanced their performance and endurance becomes, as breathing clearly and uninhibited helps your players play faster and stronger, perform at peak levels and outlast their opponents.

In fact, research shows evidence that custom mouthguards not only prevent oral and facial injuries, but improve muscular strength and endurance as well.

2. Find The Perfect Fit

In order for your players to truly grow as athletes and people, it’s important for them to understand their strengths and weaknesses. This allows them to find their ideal role and fit on the team, work on the areas they need to strengthen and helps them refine their skills to expert levels over time.

Of course, figuring out what you’re good at doesn’t happen overnight. It takes time and effort; but once your players find that perfect fit, their development comes easier.

And a perfect fitting mouthguard makes it easy for your players to continue developing. According to the Academy for Sports Dentistry, custom mouthguards are 1000% more protective than any other type of mouthguard, as their level of protection allows players to avoid costly and painful oral injuries that could leave them on injured-reserve and with a lifetime of problems. 

3. Keep Your Head Up

Your athletes must have mental toughness. While the physical tools are clearly important, a player may struggle to develop if they’re unable to handle the mental aspect of the game.

Seasons have ups and downs; the breaks may not go your way; injuries happen. There are things in sports — and in life — that can’t be prepared for. How your players respond in those moments says a lot about who they are. They need to remain focused and keep their head in the game.

Ill-fitting mouthguards are one more distraction that has the ability to take your players out of the correct headspace. Have you ever had an annoying tag in the back of your t-shirt? It’s pretty distracting when you constantly need to readjust your collar. Well your players are equally distracted by that clunky, ill-fitting mouthguard; constantly needing to take it out or readjust it, rather than focusing on the task at hand.

Specifically engineered to fit each athlete’s individual mouth structure, custom mouthguards don’t just allow your players to speak and breathe uninhibitedly — which actually helps to improve performance — but removes a major distraction altogether. That means your players are focused, protected and playing their best.

From proper breathing to perfect fit, custom mouthguards help you help your players develop to the best of their abilities.

Develop Your Players

Author Bio

Bobbie Quinn, co-founder of Gladiator Custom Mouthguards, played both lacrosse and field hockey as a youth and went on to play Division 1 women’s lacrosse in college. Bobbie continues to play women’s league field hockey and enjoys watching her son play various sports.