Violent contact has become almost a fixture in the NFL, as players use their reinforced pads and helmets to knock each other out of plays — and sometimes, out of entire games.
Not in the American 7s Football League, though. In the seven-on-seven semi-pro league, players tackle each other without the aid or protection of those pads and helmets that absorb hard hits. In fact, the league’s rules prohibit hard pads, separate shoulder pads (though embedded pads are okay) and soft padded head gear.
Instead, the A7FL is looking at technology to help its players protect themselves. The league signed a deal with 2ND SKULL, which makes skull caps integrated with technology that helps absorb the impact of hits. The cap itself is almost weightless, so players aren’t adding bulk while playing, according to a press release on the deal. Specialized urethane material lies softly on the player’s head but hardens to guard against impact. 2ND SKULL was a finalist for its product at the NFL’s “1st and Future” competition as part of the Super Bowl LI festivities.
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“American 7s Football format of removing helmets and removing bulky pads encourages athletes to use proper form tackling and wrap up technique,” Sean Korkosuz, the CEO of A7FL, said in a statement. “The concept of risk homeostasis supports our findings that athletes instinctively take their head out of the tackle when you remove the helmets and hard pads. You can see this going on with so called rugby style tackling being used at all levels of football including the NFL.”
Another one of A7FL’s rules of gameplay is that players must wear mouthguards. That’s where Athlete Intelligence comes in, as its Vector mouthguard will be the official device of the league. Athlete Intelligence will also contribute its suite of data analytics related to player performance and injury reduction. The Vector can detect hits to the head using microscopic chips and transmits information from those hits in real time to a computer on the sideline that can monitor a player’s condition. The hits show up as a 3D heat map that displays the metrics — force, direction, location and time — of an impact.
“Our smart sensor the Vector MouthGuard pairs with the functionality of the Athlete Intelligence Platform to deliver a easy-to-use solution for more than just hit detection; it helps coaches and athletic trainers improve the players techniques and reduce injuries,” Athlete Intelligence CEO Jesse Harper said in a statement.