Reading Artifacts

I chose a roll of tape as my artifact for athletic training. I made a critical reading response for it and through doing that I was able to see how this artifact can teach people about the field of athletic training. You may being thinking to yourself, how can a roll of tape teach me about the field of athletic training? Well it most certainly can I and I am about to explain how.

First off, athletic training is a job that can be done in many different ways. There are many aspects to the job that make it what it is. The roll of tape reflects this by demonstrating that there are many different ways to tape an ankle or another part of the body, but these ways depend on the type of injury that has taken place. This is like the job of an athletic trainer. There are different ways to treat situations and get things done. An athletic trainer must be on his/her toes so that he/she knows how to handle the situation.

Secondly, athletic training is a job that requires one to have a continued attention to what is going on. There is always a possibility of an injury taking place and whether you see it or not an injury is an injury. Being able to identify when and how an injury happened is key to being a good athletic trainer and providing the proper care. Paying close attention to the activity at hand can be what separates an average athletic trainer from a good athletic trainer.

The last thing a roll of tape can teach you about athletic training is that is a tough, demanding job. You have to be able to work in all sorts of weather and different conditions. And certain weather and conditions can mean added work or more detailed, focused work for an athletic trainer. For example, if it is a super hot humid summer day and the football team has practice, the athletic trainer has to take a bunch of factors into consideration to calculate if it is safe to practice outside that day or move practice to a safer more suitable environment. Depending on how many injuries a team has can also make work more demanding on the athletic trainer. More injuries means more tape ankles, more ice bathes, more stretching, and so on. Athletic training is a job that requires you to act on your feet and adjust accordingly to what is going on around you.

Athletic training is like a roll of tape, when you unraveling it or get more into the job you realize there is so much that makes up the job. I hope the three aspects of athletic training above helped you understand the field of athletic training in a more detailed way.

 Work Cited

Hendrick, Carrie Rayette. "The Therapeutic Effects of Kinesio(TM) Tape on A Grade I Lateral Ankle Sprain." Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 2010. United States -- Virginia: ProQuest. Web. 30 Apr. 2013.