A comparison of soccer heading scenarios on the brain

Engineering of Sport 15 - Proceedings from the 15th International Conference on the Engineering of Sport (ISEA 2024)

Soccer is one of the most popular contact sports in the world where heading can sometimes cause concussion. Naunheim recorded linear acceleration of 16 and 20 g’s, and rotational acceleration of 1302 and 1457 rad/sec2 at 9 and 12 m/s when headed by the participants. Using a hybrid III headform, Jeffery measured linear and rotational accelerations of 54 g and 4000 rad/sec2 , respectively, from 26.8 m/s impacts. The headform was mounted to a sled allowing translation in the direction of the incoming ball. The past decade has seen a significant improvement in human finite element models, and they now include many organs of the body and brain. Application of these models to contact sport, such as heading, can improve our understanding of brain response. The following compares simulations of heading from front, side, and oblique scenarios as a function of ball pressure and speed to identify the sensitivity of these parameters to brain response in soccer.