TY - JOUR
T1 - Physical Performance Measures Correlate with Head Impact Exposure in Youth Football
AU - Kelley, Mireille E.
AU - Jones, Derek A.
AU - Espeland, Mark A.
AU - Rosenberg, Meagan L.
AU - Miles, Christopher M.
AU - Whitlow, Christopher T.
AU - Maldjian, Joseph A.
AU - Stitzel, Joel D.
AU - Urban, Jillian E.
N1 - Funding Information:
Overall, greater physical performance measures were significantly associated with higher HIE metrics. Physical performance measures also explained more variation in HIE in games than in practices. The strongest relationships were between 40-yard sprint speed and all three RWE metrics in games. Physical performance may aid in identifying athletes at greater risk of experiencing higher HIE and should be considered as part of intervention strategies for reducing HIE; however, further research is needed to better understand how HIE could be reduced in high-performing athletes. Individual-level interventions targeted toward high-performing athletes may emphasize skill development, such as engaging in proper tackling technique and reducing speed before contact. Greater understanding of the factors that influence an individual’s HIE is important to develop additional evidence-based strategies to reduce HIE. Research reported in this publication was supported by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke of the National Institutes of Health under awards R01NS094410 and R01NS082453. The National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health, through grant KL2TR001421 supported Dr. Jillian E. Urban. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health. The authors give special thanks to the Childress Institute for Pediatric Trauma at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center for providing support for this study. The authors also thank the youth football league’s coordinators, coaches, parents, athletes, and athletic trainer whose support made this study possible. The authors also thank all the research assistants that helped with physical performance and head impact data collection. The authors report no conflict of interest concerning the materials or methods used in this study or the findings specified in this paper. The results of the present study do not constitute endorsement by ACSM. The results of the study are presented clearly, honestly, and without fabrication, falsification, or inappropriate data manipulation.
PY - 2020/2/1
Y1 - 2020/2/1
N2 - 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 individual-specific 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 System. Head impact exposure was quantified in terms of impact frequency, linear and rotational head acceleration, and risk-weighted cumulative exposure metrics (RWELinear, RWERotational, and RWECP). Study participants completed four physical performance tests: Vertical jump, shuttle run, three-cone, 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 yr) completed performance testing and received combined 13,770 head impacts measured with the Head Impact Telemetry System for a full season. All performance measures were significantly correlated with total number of impacts in a season, RWELinear-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 R2 > 0.3). The only significant relationships among HIE metrics in practice were between shuttle run speed and total practice impacts and RWELinear-Practices, 40 yard sprint speed and total number of practice impacts, and three-cone speed and 95th percentile number of impacts/practice. Conclusions Generally, higher vertical jump height and faster times in speed and agility drills were associated with higher HIE, especially in games. Physical performance explained less variation in HIE in practices, where drills and other factors, such as coaching style, may have a larger influence on HIE.
AB - 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 individual-specific 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 System. Head impact exposure was quantified in terms of impact frequency, linear and rotational head acceleration, and risk-weighted cumulative exposure metrics (RWELinear, RWERotational, and RWECP). Study participants completed four physical performance tests: Vertical jump, shuttle run, three-cone, 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 yr) completed performance testing and received combined 13,770 head impacts measured with the Head Impact Telemetry System for a full season. All performance measures were significantly correlated with total number of impacts in a season, RWELinear-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 R2 > 0.3). The only significant relationships among HIE metrics in practice were between shuttle run speed and total practice impacts and RWELinear-Practices, 40 yard sprint speed and total number of practice impacts, and three-cone speed and 95th percentile number of impacts/practice. Conclusions Generally, higher vertical jump height and faster times in speed and agility drills were associated with higher HIE, especially in games. Physical performance explained less variation in HIE in practices, where drills and other factors, such as coaching style, may have a larger influence on HIE.
KW - Biomechanics
KW - Football
KW - Head Acceleration
KW - Speed
KW - Strength
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U2 - 10.1249/MSS.0000000000002144
DO - 10.1249/MSS.0000000000002144
M3 - Article
C2 - 31469712
AN - SCOPUS:85077935292
VL - 52
SP - 449
EP - 456
JO - Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise
JF - Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise
SN - 0195-9131
IS - 2
ER -