Tackling

If you are a football fan, then you know that the start of football season is less than two weeks away.  One of the hot button issues this off season has been tackling, specifically as it relates to hitting another player in the head or a tackler using his head to hit another player with.  The National Athletic Trainers Association (NATA) released a position statement last week urging officials to consistently penalize players that lead with the crown of their head.  The full statement can be seen here.  I've heard a lot of coaches, analysts, and former players complaining about the new rules and the fact that the NCAA and NFL officials will call more penalties on these types of hits.  While it will change the way some players tackle, the benefits of these new rules far outweigh the risk of a player potentially missing a tackle because he cannot lead with his head.  I will outline the theory behind these new rules below.

As you can see in the picture above, the tackler on the right of the screen is making contact with the offensive player with his head down, or in a flexed position.  This results in axial loading of the cervical spine.  When the head is in a natural, upright position, there a slight forward curvature of the cervical spine.  When the neck is flexed and the head is down, this removes the natural curve from the cervical spine, and easily allows

the force to be transmitted from the head down the cervical vertebrae.  In the picture directly above, you can see how the spine is loaded, and as the amount of force increases, the amount of deformation to the cervical spine also increases.  This can ultimately result in a fracture and/or dislocation of the cervical vertebrae that causes paralysis.  The only tackling technique that results in axial loading to the cervical spine is one in which the head is down and contact is made to the crown of the head.  While it is still possible to sustain a neck injury when tackling with the head up, the chances of sustaining a life threatening/altering injury are greatly decreased.  This article contains more information on tackling techniques and the dangers/risks associated with head down tackling.  While I am sure this issue will remain a controversial topic, the best way to prevent catastrophic head/neck injuries is to prevent players from tackling with the head down.