Relationship between Impact Velocity and Resulting Head Accelerations during Head Impacts in Youth Football

Football helmet testing standards for youth players make use of the same testing protocol for adult helmets despite research showing differences in head impact exposure between these populations. The objective of this study was to pair estimated impact velocities with linear acceleration data collected from on-field head impacts in youth football to inform youth-specific helmet testing methods. A total of 49 youth football players received helmets instrumented with accelerometer arrays to measure head acceleration throughout the season. Using video recordings of games from a single camera, impact velocities were estimated for impacts with known acceleration magnitudes. On-field accelerations ranged from 40 to 85 g, while impact velocities ranged from 0.5 to 5.5 m/s. The average error associated with these velocity estimates was below 10%, and a zoomed-in camera view provided results more consistent with true velocity. Velocities estimated from direct helmet-to-helmet impacts matched more closely with linear acceleration than other kinds of impacts. These findings may be used to inform testing methods/conditions that are more representative of impacts experienced by youth football players.