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Impact Mitigation Properties of Women’s Lacrosse Headgear

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Abstract

Recently, protective headgear has been released for women’s lacrosse despite the fact that contact to the head is illegal. The purposes of this study were to (1) compare the linear and rotational impact attenuation properties of 2 brands of lacrosse headgear at 4 different locations during laboratory pendulum impacts and (2) determine impact dissipation of new and used lacrosse headgear. We measured peak rotational acceleration (PRA; rad/s2) and linear acceleration (PLA; g) at 4 impact locations (side, rear boss non-centric (NC), front boss, and front) in two headgear brands (Cascade LX, Hummingbird). Two headgear service lives (new headgear, used headgear) were included for the second analysis. During the slower speed, there was a significant interaction between impact location and helmet brand (p = 0.002) for PLA. No other findings were significant. While the Hummingbird headgear reduced linear and rotational accelerations of the headform better than the Cascade headgear during slow velocity impacts to the front and front boss locations, it did so due to extreme motion of the helmet upon impact that we believe may compromise protection of the head and face from lacerations and other injuries.

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Acknowledgments

Funded in part by a grant from the Center for Sport Science at US Lacrosse and a Mednick Fellowship from the Virginia Foundation for Independent Colleges. The opinions expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of US Lacrosse or the Virginia Foundation for Independent Colleges.

Conflict of interest

The authors have no conflicts of interests to disclose.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Lynchburg, 1501 Lakeside Drive, Lynchburg, VA, 24501, USA

    Thomas G. Bowman

  2. University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire, Eau Claire, WI, USA

    Katherine M. Breedlove

  3. Center for Clinical Spectroscopy, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA, USA

    Katherine M. Breedlove

  4. Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

    Katherine M. Breedlove

  5. Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ, USA

    Monica R. Lininger

  6. George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, USA

    Shane V. Caswell

Authors
  1. Thomas G. Bowman
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  2. Katherine M. Breedlove
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  3. Monica R. Lininger
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  4. Shane V. Caswell
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Correspondence to Thomas G. Bowman.

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Associate Editor Joel D Stitzel oversaw the review of this article.

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Bowman, T.G., Breedlove, K.M., Lininger, M.R. et al. Impact Mitigation Properties of Women’s Lacrosse Headgear. Ann Biomed Eng 48, 1491–1498 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10439-020-02467-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10439-020-02467-3

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