ASSOCIATION BETWEEN TACKLING TECHNIQUE AND HEAD ACCELERATION MAGNITUDE IN YOUTH FOOTBALL PLAYERS.

In order to address concerns about head injury in youth sports, a number of youth football organizations have developed rules and recommendations surrounding the tackling form which should be used in order to reduce unnecessary head impact exposure. Reduction in injury has been suggested with these programs, but association between tackling form and head acceleration magnitude has not been studied previously. To address this knowledge gap, grading criteria were developed from multiple youth organizations' recommendations for a collision. A total of 142 tackles from a youth football team were graded. Head acceleration data were collected from helmet-mounted accelerometer arrays. An association was found between poor form and resultant head acceleration being greater than 40 g for both the tackler and the ball carrier. This study demonstrates the potential usefulness of tackling technique coaching programs in youth football.