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New study finds that college football players get more concussions during practice than games

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Posted at 5:50 PM, Feb 02, 2021
and last updated 2021-02-02 19:50:11-05

New research published in Jama Neurology found that college football players suffer more concussions during practice than in games.

The research tracked players from six Division I schools over five seasons and found 72% of concussions happened during practice.

"These data point to a powerful opportunity for policy, education, and other prevention strategies to make the greatest overall reduction in concussion incidence and HIE in college football, particularly during preseason training and football practices throughout the season, without major modification to gameplay," researchers said. "Strategies to prevent concussion and HIE have important implications to protecting the safety and health of football players at all competitive levels."

According to researchers, 528,684 head impacts were recorded from 658 players over five seasons.

Research showed that 48.5% of concussions occurred during preseason training, despite preseason representing only 20.8% of the season.