THE INFLUENCE OF FOOTBALL INFLATION PRESSURE ON IMPACT FORCE AND HEAD ACCELERATIONS DURING FOOTBALL HEADING

Authors

Kieran Austin, University of ChichesterFollow
Neal Smith, University of ChichesterFollow
Mike Lauder, University of ChichesterFollow

Category

Football Codes

Document Type

Paper

Abstract

The study investigated the effects of ball inflation pressure on head impact biomechanics. In a two-stage study, footballs with a range of ball inflation pressures (0.4 – 0.95 atm) were impacted into a force plate across a range of ball velocities. Next, 12 male players headed a reduced range of inflation pressures (0.4 & 0.54 atm) and ball velocities (5 & 8m/s) whilst instrumented with three-dimensional motion capture markers to assess linear and angular head accelerations. Results suggest that in isolation, a reduced inflation pressure reduces peak impact force across all velocities barring a low velocity of 4.6 m/s. In Vivo, findings suggest that inflation pressure has no effect on linear or angular head accelerations at any velocity, and ball velocity has no effect on linear accelerations. However, a ball velocity of 5 m/s could reduce angular accelerations by 180 rads/s² (95% CI: 104 – 255 rads/s²).

Recommended Citation

Austin, Kieran; Smith, Neal; and Lauder, Mike (2022) "THE INFLUENCE OF FOOTBALL INFLATION PRESSURE ON IMPACT FORCE AND HEAD ACCELERATIONS DURING FOOTBALL HEADING," ISBS Proceedings Archive: Vol. 40: Iss. 1, Article 12.
Available at: https://commons.nmu.edu/isbs/vol40/iss1/12