@article{ref1,
title="The effect of coach feedback and awareness of head impact exposure on practice structure in youth football",
journal="Journal of neurotrauma",
year="2021",
author="Urban, Jillian E. and Stitzel, Joel D. and Powers, Alexander K. and Kelley, Mireille E. and Moore, Justin B. and Milef, Gabriella M. and DiGuglielmo, Daniella M.",
volume="ePub",
number="ePub",
pages="ePub-ePub",
abstract="With the concern of concussion risk and repetitive head impacts in youth football, organizations have adopted rules that limit contact during practice. However, rule  changes are not ubiquitous among organizations and are challenging to monitor and  enforce. Ultimately, American football practice activities are determined by coaches, but it  is unknown whether providing objective data to coaches relating activities to their  athletes' head impact exposure (HIE) would alter practice structure or help reduce  HIE. This study evaluated the effect of coach awareness of HIE on practice structure  over time. Head impact data from three intervention (56 players) and control (38  players) teams were collected over two youth football seasons. Athletes were  instrumented with the Head Impact Telemetry (HIT) System and time-synchronized video  was recorded for practices and games. Impact frequencies and head accelerations were  compiled into weekly HIE practice and game reports shared with the head coach of  each intervention team. Time per drill, impact rate, and impact magnitude were  compared among three time frames (pre-season, mid-season, and late-season) using  generalized linear models. Control teams had higher impact rates than intervention  teams in all drills across time frames. Among all teams, 95th percentile linear and  rotational accelerations were highest during mid-season. Among intervention teams,  more time was spent on scrimmage and skill development from pre-season to  late-season, with less time spent on tackling. This study suggests receiving  objective data informing HIE in practice may contribute to changes in practice  structure and help inform intervention efforts to improve head impact safety in American football.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0897-7151",
doi="10.1089/neu.2020.7224",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1089/neu.2020.7224"
}