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. 2023 Apr 27;39(3):157-168.
doi: 10.1123/jab.2022-0196. Print 2023 Jun 1.

Characterization of Head Acceleration Exposure During Youth Football Practice Drills

Ty D Holcomb  1   2 , Madison E Marks  1   2 , N Stewart Pritchard  1   2 , Logan Miller  1   2 , Mark A Espeland  3   4 , Christopher M Miles  5 , Justin B Moore  6   7   8 , Kristie L Foley  6   8 , Joel D Stitzel  1   2 , Jillian E Urban  1   2
Affiliations

Characterization of Head Acceleration Exposure During Youth Football Practice Drills

Ty D Holcomb et al. J Appl Biomech. .

Abstract

Many head acceleration events (HAEs) observed in youth football emanate from a practice environment. This study aimed to evaluate HAEs in youth football practice drills using a mouthpiece-based sensor, differentiating between inertial and direct HAEs. Head acceleration data were collected from athletes participating on 2 youth football teams (ages 11-13 y) using an instrumented mouthpiece-based sensor during all practice sessions in a single season. Video was recorded and analyzed to verify and assign HAEs to specific practice drill characteristics, including drill intensity, drill classification, and drill type. HAEs were quantified in terms of HAEs per athlete per minute and peak linear and rotational acceleration and rotational velocity. Mixed-effects models were used to evaluate the differences in kinematics, and generalized linear models were used to assess differences in HAE frequency between drill categories. A total of 3237 HAEs were verified and evaluated from 29 football athletes enrolled in this study. Head kinematics varied significantly between drill categorizations. HAEs collected at higher intensities resulted in significantly greater kinematics than lower-intensity drills. The results of this study add to the growing body of evidence informing evidence-based strategies to reduce head impact exposure and concussion risk in youth football practices.

Keywords: American football; biomechanics; head impact exposure; head kinematics.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interests

The authors declare that they have no known conflicts of interest. Dr. Joel D. Stitzel and Dr. Jillian E. Urban (authors) have a patent pending on the mouthpiece instrumentation utilized in this study. The results of this study are presented clearly, honestly, and without data manipulation, fabrication, or falsification.

Figures

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Figure 1 - (A) Peak resultant linear acceleration, (B) peak resultant rotational acceleration, (C) peak resultant rotational velocity, and (D) proportion of indirect and direct head acceleration events by drill intensity.
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Figure 2 - (A) Peak resultant linear acceleration, (B) peak resultant rotational acceleration, (C) peak resultant rotational velocity, and (D) proportion of indirect and direct head acceleration events by drill classification.
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Figure 3 - (A) Peak resultant linear acceleration, (B) peak resultant rotational acceleration, (C) peak resultant rotational velocity, and (D) proportion of indirect and direct head acceleration events by drill type.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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