Associations of Tackling Characteristics, Player Position, and Head Contact Risk During Game Play in College Football

Sport-related concussion is a common injury among National Collegiate Athletic Association football athletes. Beginning with the 2016 season, Ivy League Conference coaches voted to ban player- on-player tackling from all in-season practices. BLINDED have enforced a no-tackle approach in practices since 2010.

To examine the association between tackling technique and head contact risk, and compare base rates of techniques used in the 2016 season between an Ivy League team with a longstanding no- tackle practice policy vs. the rest of the league.

Cross-sectional study.

Ivy League College Football Conference.

Two-hundred-thirty-seven Ivy League defensive football players that participated in the 2016 season.

Tackles (N=3,701) across 237 Ivy League defensive football players in the 2016 season were coded based on predetermined classifications, which were combined to create unique tackle combinations/techniques. Associations among tackling techniques, head impact risk, and team (BLINIDED vs. other Ivy League teams) were evaluated using logistic regression, yielding odds ratios (OR) for head contact.

Low-risk tackle characteristics for head contact during a tackle were neutral neck position (OR=0.1), back contact area (OR=0.3), pursuing momentum (OR=0.5), and quarterback sack momentum (OR=0.3). Low-risk tackle techniques were high-back-neutral (OR=0.1), low-back-neutral (OR=0.2), and medium-back-neutral (OR=0.1). High-risk tackle characteristics were flexion (OR=14.2) and extension (OR=3.8) neck positioning, front contact (OR=2.2), blowup (OR=2.5), and cut (OR=3.0). High-risk tackle techniques included low-side-flexion (OR=4.9), low-front-flexion (OR=9.9), medium-side-flexion (OR=15.5), and medium-front-flexion (OR=11.4). Relative to BLINDED, other teams demonstrated higher odds of using high-risk techniques (low-side-flexion OR=3.5; low-front-flexion OR=3.9; medium- side-flexion OR=6.3; medium-front-flexion OR=2.3) and reduced odds of using low-risk tackle combinations (high-side-neutral OR=0.4; high-back-neutral OR=0.6; medium-side-neutral OR=0.8).

Tackling techniques are associated with head contact risk, and by extension, player safety. BLINDED, who have a longstanding policy of practicing without player-on-player tackling, showed reduced use of high-risk tackling techniques.