ArticleMedicine and science in sports and exercise2019
Data-informed Intervention Improves Football Technique and Reduces Head Impacts.
Article in Medicine and science in sports and exercise, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
19 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 31 citations in OpenAlex.
- Player-Level Tackle Training Interventions in Tackle-Collision Sports: A Systematic Scoping Review.Sports medicine - open · 2025Pooled it
- Head Games: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis Examining Concussion and Head Impact Incidence Rates, Modifiable Risk Factors, and Prevention Strategies in Youth Tackle Football.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2022Pooled it
- Head Impact Research Using Inertial Sensors in Sport: A Systematic Review of Methods, Demographics, and Factors Contributing to Exposure.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2022Pooled it
- The Effectiveness of Regulations and Behavioral Interventions on Head Impacts and Concussions in Youth, High-School, and Collegiate Football: A Systematized Review.Annals of biomedical engineering · 2020Pooled it
- Instrumented Mouthguards in Women's Rugby League: Quantifying the Incidence and Probability of Head Acceleration Events at Group and Individual Levels.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2026Article
- Instrumented Mouthguards in Men's Rugby League: Quantifying the Incidence and Probability of Head Acceleration Events at a Group and Individual Level.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2025Article
- Delaying Tackling in Youth Contact Sports: Moving toward a Safer Future or Softening the Game?Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2025Article
- Quantifying differences in head kinematics associated with tackle form in youth football.Journal of sports sciences · 2025Article
- Understanding Beliefs and Perceptions of Parents, Coaches, and Organizational Leaders toward Non-concussive Head Impact Exposure in Youth American Football.International journal of sports science & coaching · 2025Article
- Implementing injury prevention strategies in community-based youth football: The role of parents, coaches, and organizational leaders.PloS one · 2025Article
- Distribution of position-specific head impact severities among professional and Division I collegiate American football athletes during games.BMJ open sport & exercise medicine · 2025Article
- How Shell Add-On Products Influence Varsity Football Helmet Performance?Annals of biomedical engineering · 2024Article
- Head Impact Exposure in Hawaiian High School Football: Influence of Adherence Rates on a Helmetless Tackling and Blocking Training Intervention.Journal of athletic training · 2024Article
- Relationships between aggression, sensation seeking, brain stiffness, and head impact exposure: Implications for head impact prevention in ice hockey.Brain and behavior · 2022Article
- National Athletic Trainers' Association Position Statement: Reducing Intentional Head-First Contact Behavior in American Football Players.Journal of athletic training · 2022Article
- Effect of Coach Feedback and Awareness of Head Impact Exposure on Practice Structure in Youth Football.Journal of neurotrauma · 2021Article
- Neuroimaging and advanced research techniques may lead to improved outcomes in military members suffering from traumatic brain injury.Trauma surgery & acute care open · 2021Review
- Age of First Exposure to Contact and Collision Sports and Later in Life Brain Health: A Narrative Review.Frontiers in neurology · 2021Review
- Fewer US Adolescents Playing Football and Public Health: A Review of Measures to Improve Safety and an Analysis of Gaps in the Literature.Public health reports (Washington, D.C. : 1974)Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionAlthough sport participation is a key contributor to the physical and mental health of children and youth, exposure to subconcussive head impacts in football has raised concerns about safety for athletes. PURPOSE: To demonstrate the efficacy of incorporating targeted football drills into a team's practice routine with the goal of improving players' technique and reduce exposure to subconcussive head impacts.
methodsSeventy high school football players (age, 16.4 ± 1.1 yr) were tested PRE season using a sport-specific functional assessment. Results from the testing were used to inform the design of a prepractice intervention aimed at improving tackling and blocking techniques while reducing exposure to head impacts. The assessment included drills which evaluated the players' ability to safely tackle, and block while simulating game-like situations. Testing was repeated at MID season (internal control) without an intervention, and again at POST season (experimental), after introduction of the prepractice intervention between these timepoints, administered twice weekly. All testing sessions were recorded, and subsequently reviewed by trained graders based on selected criteria defined by football coaches. A subset of 19 participants wore in-helmet accelerometers to assess the effectiveness of the intervention in decreasing head impacts during practice.
resultsSignificant improvements in blocking and tackling techniques were observed after the introduction of the intervention (P < 0.0001). Participating athletes also showed better techniques when evaluated in new game-like situations, postseason, providing evidence for proper acquisition and generalizability of these safer habits. Finally, frequency of head impacts (>15g) per practice was significantly reduced by ~30% after 1 month of training.
conclusionOur results suggest that data-informed methods can be used to improve coaching practices and promote safer play, which can have a positive public health impact moving forward.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.