The force of blows to the head during hockey is roughy the same as in college football, according to a comprehensive study on hockey and head injuries that was released this week.
http://www.newsobserver.com/2010/05/17/485996/study-looks-into-the-effects-of.html
The Exercise and Sports Science department at the University of North Carolina studied members of the Junior Hurricanes bantam hockey team to collect data on hits to the head in hockey. As part of the project, sensors were fitted into the helmets of 13- and 14-year-old players to measure impact to the head, the G-force when a blow is struck.
More than 600 collisions were analyzed, after being matched with coordinating data, according to The News & Observer in Raleigh, N.C.
One thing the study found out is that the G force for head blows in hockey ranged from 18 to 22 Gs, about the same as for hits in football.
“Football players have mass, but acceleration is higher in hockey,” Kevin Guskiewicz, who runs UNC’s Sports Concussion Research Program, told the News & Observer,
The other takeaway from the study is that coaches should spend more time teaching their players ways to anticipate hits and then get in the best position to weather such blows.
“Our data underscore the need to provide players with the necessary technical skills to heighten their awareness of imminent collisions and to mitigate the severity of head impacts in this sport,” the study, published in Pediatrics, the journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, said. http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/abstract/peds.2009-2849v1
“Anticipated collisions tended to result in less-severe head impacts than unanticipated collisions, especially for medium-intensity impacts,” the study said.
Another finding was that illegal moves like elbowing lead to more serious injuries than legal collisions.
