Abstract
This study sought to evaluate head accelerations in both players involved in a football collision. Players on two opposing Canadian university teams were equipped with helmet mounted sensors during one game per season, for two consecutive seasons. A total of 276 collisions between 58 instrumented players were identified via video and cross-referenced with sensor timestamps. Player involvement (striking and struck), impact type (block or tackle), head impact location (front, back, left and right), and play type were recorded from video footage. While struck players did not experience significantly different linear or rotational accelerations between any play types, striking players had the highest linear and rotational head accelerations during kickoff plays (p ≤ .03). Striking players also experienced greater linear and rotational head accelerations than struck players during kickoff plays (p = .001). However, struck players experienced greater linear and rotational accelerations than striking players during kick return plays (p ≤ .008). Other studies have established that the more severe the head impact, the greater risk for injury to the brain. This paper’s results highlight that kickoff play rule changes, as implemented in American college football, would decrease head impact exposure of Canadian university football athletes and make the game safer.
Highlights
In recent years, biomechanical studies of head impacts in football players have enabled scientists to gather more insight about the mechanisms of injury as a way to better understand and improve prevention strategies of sport-related concussions.[38]
We hypothesized that struck players would experience higher head impact magnitudes than striking players, tackling collisions would result in larger head impact magnitudes than blocking collisions, head impact magnitudes would vary by location on the head, and that special teams plays would experience higher head impact magnitudes than offensive or defensive plays
The median linear head acceleration experienced by players was 13.9 (14.7) g, the median rotational velocity was 12.5 (8.8) rad/s, and the median rotational acceleration was 740.2 (1095.3) rad/s2
Summary
Biomechanical studies of head impacts in football players have enabled scientists to gather more insight about the mechanisms of injury as a way to better understand and improve prevention strategies of sport-related concussions.[38]. Many studies have shifted their focus to quantifying head impact exposures by collecting head impact data from football players over extended periods of time.[6,10,15,16] While the purpose and results of these studies vary, a common understanding is that the more severe the head impact, the greater risk for injury to the brain.[23,35,50] In order to better understand the mechanism of injury, some studies have focused on individual impacts This provides a more individualized framework that may account for the heterogeneity in biomechanical factors that relate to colliding athletes.[10] a thorough identification of the plays and parts of the football game that are associated with more severe head impact magnitudes is essential to minimize risk of head injury in football players.[13,36,38]
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