Reducing the Risk of Head and Neck Injuries in Football

Football is one of the most popular sports in America, and lately has been in the news for some not so savory health concerns. Coaches now worry, with the new prevalence and focus on risks for head injuries, if their numbers will continue to grow or plummet. They often ask how can we better prepare our teams for the season, and hopefully they are asking how can we better protect our students? The easiest way to help reduce and prevent head injuries in football is by teaching proper tackling technique, reducing contact until age 12, and ensuring peak physical fitness especially with head and neck strength.

According to the American Academy of pediatrics, in the article “ Tackling in Youth Football,” they cite head injuries as the most concerning and repetitive injury that can be sustained in football. They also go on to state that the repetitive subconcussive blows sustained in football are a concern, due to their hypothesized link to CTE (Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy). In most studies the occurrence of head injuries is rated at about 5-13% of all injuries sustained in football. Tackling is noted to be the leading cause of these injuries, so the question is what can we do to decrease these numbers and recurrences?

Ideally the way to decrease risk of head and neck injuries is to also decrease the amount of contact practices in a season and limiting tackling until after age 12. When tackling and other contact drill cannot be avoided, and must be practiced, it is important to teach proper tackling technique. This can greatly decrease the risk of concussive and subconcussive blows. All athletes should be encouraged to initiate contact with the shoulder and require the player to keep their head up. This style tackling is often used in rugby, and has shown to significantly decrease the risk for head injury. Speer tackling, or tackling the head down or directed at the other player puts athletes at higher risk for not only concussions, but spinal fractures and contusions, as well as other severe spinal cord and head injuries. USA football has even launched the “Heads up Football” campaign to help educate players and coaches. For more information visit: https://usafootball.com/programs/heads-up-football/middle-high-school/shouldertackling/.

Not only can teaching the proper technique benefit your athletes, but also the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends head and neck strengthening regimens be incorporated into regular practices. This is also recommended by the National Athletic Trainers Association, and has been directly linked to a decrease in the prevalence of severe head and neck injuries. This is due to the fact that weak neck muscles can fatigue easier leading to higher risk of injury, and also by increasing the mass of the head and neck can help counter larger blows and acceleration forces. For suggestions of which exercises to have your athlete perform please visit https://www.stack.com/a/how-a-strong-neck-can-prevent-concussions for more information.

In order to move football into the future, and ensure the safety of athletes around the nation it is important to understand the prevention strategies we can use in order to protect our athletes. Not only can the strategies mentioned help greatly reduce the risk of head and neck injuries, but can also help reduce the risk of all injuries. Teaching proper tackling technique, ensuring proper strength and limiting tackling until the age of 12 can all help greatly reduce the risk of severe injuries in football, especially head and neck injuries. As coaches you should take an educated approach to not only the art of football but also injury prevention, in order to preserve the longevity of the sport we all love.

Works Cited:

Tackling in Youth Football. (2015). Official Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics,136(5). Retrieved August 9, 2019, from https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/pediatrics/136/5/e1419.full.pdf.