Physical Performance Measures Correlate with Head Impact Exposure in Youth Football

Abstract

Purpose: Head impact exposure (HIE) (i.e., magnitude and frequency of impacts) can vary considerably among individuals within a single football team. To better understand individualspecific factors that may explain variation in head impact biomechanics, this study aimed to evaluate the relationship between physical performance measures and HIE metrics in youth football players.Methods: Head impact data were collected from youth football players using the Head Impact Telemetry (HIT) System. HIE was quantified in terms of impact frequency, linear and rotational head acceleration, and risk-weighted cumulative exposure metrics (RWE Linear , RWE Rotational , and RWE CP ). Study participants completed 4 physical performance tests: vertical jump, shuttle run, 3cone, and 40 yard sprint. The relationships between performance measures and HIE metrics were evaluated using linear regression analyses.Results: A total of 51 youth football athletes (ages: 9-13 years old) completed performance testing and received a combined 13,770 head impacts measured with the HIT System for a full season. All performance measures were significantly correlated with total number of impacts in a season, RWE Linear -Season, and all RWE-Game metrics. The strongest relationships were between 40 yard sprint speed and all RWE-Game metrics (all p≤0.0001 and partial R 2 >0.3). The only significant relationships among HIE metrics in practice were between shuttle run speed and total

Head Impact Kinematics and Brain Deformation in Paired Opposing Youth Football Players

“…To understand subconcussive HIE in youth football, researchers have instrumented the helmets of athletes with head impact sensors. Recent efforts have combined on-field video with head impact sensor data to characterize HIE in practice drills 5,6 and understand the effects of level of play, 7 player performance metrics, 8 and individual characteristics [9][10][11] on peak kinematics. Additionally, other studies have considered the effect of how athletes engage in contact on peak kinematics, including closing distance (ie, the distance traveled prior to contact) 7,12,13 and source of impact (ie, contact with a player or contact with a surface).…”

Relationship between Aggressiveness, Self-Confidence, and Perceived Coach Support and Head Impact Exposure in Youth Football

“…HIE was quantified in terms of the total number of impacts (N), mean number of impacts per athlete per session, 95th percentile linear and rotational acceleration (LA95, RA95), and median linear and rotational acceleration (median LA, median RA). Risk Weighted Exposure (RWE), a cumulative exposure metric encompassing frequency and magnitude of impacts, was calculated using the youth concussion risk function developed by Campolettano et al [17,39,40]. Each HIE metric was evaluated for the entire season and separately by session type (i.e., practices, competitions).…”

“…Previous studies have shown that team-based activities, such as practice drills and game play, affect HIE of athletes [10][11][12][13][14]. In an attempt to reduce head impacts among athletes, youth football organizations have begun to restrict the amount of contact teams can engage in during practice, and some require coaches to receive certification/training on safe tackling [15,16]; while this has been shown to reduce HIE overall, HIE still varies greatly among individual athletes [11,12,[16][17][18][19][20][21][22]. The differences in HIE between individuals might be affected by personal characteristics and behaviors [21,22].…”