The association between tackle technique and head acceleration events in a cross-section of adolescent female rugby players.

OBJECTIVES

Tackle technique is well researched in male rugby players, but not in female players. This study investigated the relationship between different tackle characteristics for the tackler and ball carrier and head acceleration event magnitude in adolescent female rugby players.

DESIGN

A prospective cohort study that followed forty-one, 12-17-year-old female rugby players over 2 seasons.

METHODS

Instrumented mouthguards and video analysis were used to quantify head acceleration events, by recording the peak linear and peak rotational acceleration that were associated with tackle events in both games and trainings.

RESULTS

We found twice as many head acceleration events ≥8 g for the tackler (n = 1233) than the ball carrier (n = 694). Tackling the ball carrier at the shoulder/chest resulted in the highest peak rotational acceleration (1973.6 ± 85.6 rads rad/s2, mean ± SE) for the tackler, which was higher than tackling the ball carrier at the torso/hip (1609.7 ± 69.8, p = 0.0002). A face up tackle recorded a higher peak rotational acceleration for the tackler than a face down tackle (1958.8 ± 83.3, 1601.6 ± 64.2 rads rad/s2, p < 0.0002, Cohen's d = 0.24). For both the ball carrier and the tackler, an uncontrolled fall resulted in higher peak linear acceleration compared to a controlled fall (3.8 ± 2.7 g, p < 0.005, d = 0.29 and 4.2 ± 3.0 g, p < 0.006, d = 0.30 respectively).

CONCLUSIONS

Modifying tackle behaviours in female rugby may reduce head acceleration event magnitude associated with tackles and improve player safety.