THE EFFECT OF TACKLING TRAINING ON HEAD ACCELERATIONS IN YOUTH AMERICAN FOOTBALL

Many organizations have introduced frameworks to reduce the incidence of football related concussions through proper equipment fitting, coach education, and alteration of tackling technique.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of training in a vertical, head up tackling style on the number of head accelerations experienced while tackling in a controlled laboratory situation. The authors hypothesized that training in a head up tackling technique would reduce the severity of head acceleration experienced by participants.

Controlled Laboratory Study.

Twenty-four participants (11.5 ± 0.6 years old, 60.5 ± 2.2 in, 110 ± 18.4 lbs.) with previous playing experience completed a one-day training session on tackling technique utilizing a tackling dummy. A subgroup of these participants completed an additional two days of training with a 48 hour retention test. Head accelerations were analyzed at baseline and end of training. Feedback consisted of verbal feedback utilizing the Qualitative Youth Tackling Scale (QYTS) and video tackling playback.

A significant reduction in the number of peak linear head accelerations over 10 g and peak rotational head accelerations over 1885 deg/s² were found in dummy tackling after training in both the one day and three day training regimens. A significant change in QYTS tackling form score was found between pretest and post-test (p = 0.004). Participants with larger steps had a 2.28, 4.42 and 4.14 increased odds ratio of sustaining head accelerations over 10, 15 and 20 g respectively.

Training in a vertical, head up tackling style decreased the number of head accelerations over threshold values sustained while tackling; decreased step length may be the driving factor in the effectiveness of this tackling form.

Level 3b.