VIDEO ANALYSIS OF HEAD IMPACT PARAMETERS IN YOUTH FOOTBALL

Gyemi DL, Lovis ER, Town CM, Jadischke R, Andrews DM. Video analysis of head impact parameters in youth football. XXVII Congress of the International Society of Biomechanics and 43rd Annual Meeting of the American Society of Biomechanics – Calgary: 2019.

While a large amount of research has been focused on professional, college, and high school football, very little is known about how and when head impacts occur in youth football. This information is critical for designing helmets that are optimized for youth athletes. This study represents the first examination of head impacts in youth tackle football using gold-standard video methods. Researchers recorded games played by Mite (4-5 years), Tyke (6-9 years), and Atom (9-12 years) teams using stationary action cameras placed around the football field. They recorded details about each head impact (e.g., frequency, type, mechanism, source, location on head, etc.). This is an ongoing study, but early results suggest that head-to-ground impacts were the most common type of head impact (versus head-to-head or head-to-body impacts). Researchers also found that helmet impact locations differed among the three age groups. This suggests that as players progress in their tackling technique they may experience different types of head impacts, which should be considered in helmet design.

PRESENTING SAFETY MESSAGES USING A MULTI-CHANNEL APPROACH

Hall SM, Frantz JP, Zendler JM, Goulet GC. Xenith presents safety messages using multi-channel approach. 3rd Annual Boston University Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy Conference: 2018.

All tackle football helmets are required to carry specific warning labels, but manufacturers can provide additional labels to better inform consumers. We partnered with Applied Safety + Ergonomics (Ann Arbor, MI) to develop a series of science-driven safety communications for players and families to learn about the risk of head injury from tackle football and to discover opportunities to limit this risk. Researchers investigated the latest scientific literature about head health in football to determine the most critical information to share with athletes, parents, and coaches, which included specifically addressing concerns about Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE). Labels were systematically tested with players and parents to identify optimal placement in the helmet and ensure the safety messages were understandable. In addition to the labels, an online Safety Briefing for parents and players to access the latest scientific findings about head health safety in tackle football was created to be an up-to-date resource for players and parents.

DEVELOPMENT OF A METHODOLOGY AND PRELIMINARY ANALYSIS OF HEAD IMPACTS IN AMERICAN 7V7 NON-TACKLE FOOTBALL

Jadischke R, Zendler J, Lovis E, Elliott A, Goulet GC. Development of a methodology and preliminary analysis of head impacts in American 7-v-7 non-tackle football. Proceedings of the IRCOBI Conference-Florence: 2019. 615–6.

Video methods have been used to gather important information about head impacts in professional football, soccer, rugby, and Australian rules football. We adapted these methods to study head impacts in youth sports. Researchers conducted simulated head impacts outdoors using dummies to test different camera settings and distances from action. The speed and energy of head impacts was calculated using advanced computer methods (3-D model-based image matching), which uses software to track the position and rotation of the head. To verify the accuracy of our method, we compared our results to gold-standard reference data. Errors with our method were similar to previous studies in professional sport (±0.24% m/s for linear velocity, ±3.4% rad/s for rotational velocity). We tested this method during live 7v7 tournament games where we placed 15 cameras around the field to record all head or body impact plays.

QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS OF HEAD AND BODY IMPACTS IN AMERICAN 7V7 NON-TACKLE FOOTBALL

Jadischke R, Zendler J, Lovis E, Elliott A, Goulet GC. Quantitative and Qualitative Analysis of Head and Body Impacts in American 7v7 Non-Tackle Football. BMJ Open Sport and Exercise Medicine: 2019. In Review.

The objective of this study was to expand current understanding of head contact in competitive non-tackle American football. While head contacts have been studied in tackle football, very little research has happened for non-tackle football, especially for youth and high school players. This study represents the first examination of head impacts in non-tackle football using gold-standard video methods. Researchers filmed 48 elite 7v7 tournament games played by 12U, 14U, and high school teams and documented every head impact, including the location on the head, the type of play, and where it occurred on the field, suing previously-validated methods . They used advanced 3-D model-based image matching to estimate the speed and energy of typical head impacts. The incidence rate of head contact was found to be low (3.5 head contacts per 1000 athlete-plays). 75% of head contacts were caused by a head-to-ground impact, while head-to-head contacts were uncommon. Most contact occurred to the upper rear or side of the head. Head-to-ground impact was associated with a maximum pre-impact head speed of 5.9 ± 2.2 m/s and a change in head speed of 3.0 ± 1.1 m/s.

ANALYSIS OF NEISS HEAD INJURIES AMONG YOUTH IN SELECTED SPORTS

Non-tackle football (7v7, flag, touch) has more participants in the US than tackle football, yet hardly any research has been done to understand the types of injuries in the sport. While it is generally believed that sport poses a lower injury risk than other contact sports, it is important to have research to quantify the nature of non-tackle head injuries. Researchers at Applied Safety + Ergonomics, in partnership with Xenith, analyzed NEISS injury reports from 2014 to 2018 for patients 6-18 years old who reported head or face injuries related to non-tackle football (organized or unorganized, flag or touch). NEISS is a publicly-available dataset that gives a national sampling of patients presenting to US emergency rooms. They extracted injuries reported for basketball, soccer, and tackle football during the same time frame and compared them to non-tackle football. Since the number of athletes participating in each sport nationwide varies, they used Sports and Fitness Industry Association (SFIA) single-sport participation reports to compare injury incidence across different sports. Head and face injury rates for non-tackle football were lower than for soccer, basketball, or tackle football. The most common areas of injury in non-tackle were the head or the face, while eye, ear, and mouth injuries only occurred in 10% of cases. The most common injury reported was a laceration (cut). Concussions occurred in non-tackle football but were less frequent than the other sports. Head and face fractures were lowest in non-tackle football, with basketball and tackle football reporting 2.3 and 1.7 times higher rates, respectively.