I agree, the concept of very young kids doing intensive exercise programmes is a bit disconcerting. Regular practice if possible is the best exercise that they can do at that stage. Older drivers undoubtably benefit from exercises to build up their neck muscles.
It is also important not to just send them out doing lap after lap, as they will get tired quite quickly and it also can be counter productive as just lapping without any aim can result in compunding bad habits.
Simple benefits can be gained from doing some stretching exercises before and after each session, as well as staying warm when not driving - this is especially important at this time of year. Regular breaks are important as these youngsters are experiencing quite heavy 'loads' on their necks, shoulders, arms and backs.
I think that one of the reasons the MSA introduced a change to the helmets for cadets was to make sure that they were not using helmets that are too heavy for them - alot of the 'arrive and drive' type helmets are motorcycle style helmets. These are are standard size shell, with different size liner to pad out the difference.....
Wearing a foam collar can also help to keep their neck warm whilst driving - it won't protect them from serious injury though if they land upside down - it can, however, offer a modicum of protection to their shoulders and collar bone region in an impact causing a forced lateral flexion of their neck, as some of the energy from the lower lip of the helmet is dissipated in deforming the foam and acts as a cushion to some extent. As to whether this results in a 'levering' effect on the opposite side of the head is possible, but with a soft collar this effect is likely to be less than that exerted by a solid, non-deforming brace.
It is similar to the argument that not wearing a seatbelt in an road traffic accident results in a reduced 'whiplsh' type injury due to the rate of deceleration of the thorax being slower than if suddenly stopped by the seatbelt once it has locked and stretched under load. However, seat belts are designed to keep you in your seat and avoid ejection injuries etc, which tend to be far worse than any exacerbation of the neck soft tissue injury !
It would be interesting if there was some proper crash testing done with regards to karting neck protection. Perhaps the people at Thatcham could be persuaded to do some ?
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