High magnitude head impacts experienced during youth football practices

To reduce the risk of concussion in the 3.5 million youth athletes who participate in organized football leagues in the United States each year, practice structure can be modified to decrease impact frequency and magnitude. The objective of this study is to identify activities that result in high magnitude head impacts in youth football players during practice. The HIT System was used to record the head acceleration magnitude, impact location on the helmet, and time of each impact for each game and practice players participated in. These data were used to quantify the head impact exposure associated with players between the ages of 9 and 11 years. Video footage recorded during each practice and game session was used to identify the activity associated with any impact above 45 g. The incidence rate of high magnitude impacts in various activities were compared by normalizing by the amount of time associated with each activity. It was determined that scrimmages accounted for 0.094 impacts greater than 45 g per minute in practices while contact drills contributed to 0.102 impacts greater than 45 g per minute during practices. The results of this study indicate future youth football practice modifications should focus on both scrimmages and contact drills.