Football helmet impact standards in relation to on-field impacts

• Published in: Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. Part P, Journal of sports engineering and technology Journal of sports engineering and technology, 2017-12, Vol.231 (4), p.317-323
• Main Authors: Sproule, David W, Campolettano, Eamon T, Rowson, Steven
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 1754-3371; 1754-338X
• DOI: 10.1177/1754337117703019

Youth football helmets currently undergo the same impact testing and must satisfy the same criteria as varsity helmets, although youth football players differ from their adult counterparts in anthropometry, physiology, and impact exposure. This study aimed to relate football helmet standards testing to on-field head impact magnitudes for youth and varsity football helmets. Head impact data, filtered to include only impacts to locations in the current National Operating Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment standard, were collected for 48 collegiate players (ages 18–23 years) and 25 youth players (ages 9–11 years) using helmet-mounted accelerometer arrays. These on-field data were compared to a series of National Operating Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment standard drop tests with a youth and varsity Riddell Speed helmet. In the on-field data, the adult players had a higher frequency of impact than the youth players, and a significant difference in head acceleration magnitude only existed at the top location (p