Relationship Between Tackling Form And Head Acceleration Events In Youth Football Competition

Head acceleration events (HAEs) are a prevalent health concern in American football, carrying well-documented risks of concussions and other head and neck injuries.1 The majority of HAEs in youth football occur from tackling collisions.2 The incidence of HAEs is greatest in competitions;3 therefore, understanding athlete tackling form in competition settings and its effect on HAE magnitude is critical to injury prevention. PURPOSE: To determine the relationship between tackle form and HAE magnitude in youth football competitions. METHODS: A total of 50 athletes (ages 11-13) across three teams from the 2022 and 2023 seasons were enrolled and fitted with custom instrumented mouthpieces.3,4 All HAEs collected during competitions were reviewed via time-synchronized video and 1-on-1 tackling scenarios were identified. Scenarios were graded by two trained reviewers using a previously validated tackle form grading rubric, with a third reviewer for tiebreakers. Peak resultant linear acceleration (PLA), peak rotational acceleration (PRA), and peak rotational velocity (PRV) from each tackle event were analyzed using linear regression to evaluate the relationship with total tackle form score and via pairwise comparisons to evaluate statistical differences across each substep’s grading. RESULTS: A total of 118 HAEs were collected from 118 1-on-1 tackling scenarios. Of the 118 HAEs, 77 (65.3%) involved an instrumented ball-carrier and 41 (34.7%) involved an instrumented tackler. Greater tackle score had a small negative association with lower PLA of the tackler (β = -0.01, CI = -0.02 to -0.001, p = 0.04). Tackle form score had no significant association with HAE magnitude experienced by the ball carrier. Pairwise analysis showed proper substep execution was significantly associated with lower PLA when the tackler began in an athletic stance, lead with their inside shoulder, and did not make first contact with the ball carrier using their head (all p < 0.1). When tacklers successfully approached the ball carrier in athletic stance, both athletes experienced significantly lower PRA (p < 0.1). CONCLUSIONS: Preliminary evidence suggests that greater tackle form scores and proper execution in specific substeps resulted in lower head kinematics, particularly for tacklers, in competition settings.