At-Risk Tackling Techniques and Effectiveness in NCAA Division I Collegiate Football

BACKGROUND: Head-down tackling has been associated with injuries to the brachial plexus, cervical spine, and head in high school and collegiate American football. Head-down tackling has also been associated with decreased effectiveness in successful tackles compared with head-up tackling.

PURPOSE: To assess tackling techniques used during National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I football games and to evaluate the successful tackling rates according to technique.

STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional study.

METHODS: Three reviewers analyzed 1000 consecutive solo defensive tackling attempts made in the 2021 season (October to December) by 8 universities within the NCAA Southeastern Conference. Slow-motion replays were used to analyze the success of the tackling attempt, the tackling method, and the initial point of contact with respect to the offensive player's waist. The chi-square or Fisher exact test was used to analyze categorical data, and the 2-tailed Student t-test or the Mann-Whitney U test was used to analyze continuous data.

RESULTS: Head-up and head-down tackling occurred in 902 (90.2%) and 98 (9.8%) tackle attempts, respectively. Head-up tackles were successful in 76.2% of the attempts compared with 55.1% for head-down tackles ( P < .001). Tackles were made at or above the offensive player's waist in 777 (77.7%) attempts and below the waist in 223 (22.3%) attempts. Tackles at or above the waist were successful in 77.6% of the attempts compared with 61.9% of tackles below the waist ( P < .001). The inside-shoulder method was used in 592 (59.2%) tackles, the arm method in 317 (31.7%), the head-across-the-bow method in 72 (7.2%), and the helmet-to-helmet method in 19 (1.9%). Inside-shoulder tackles had the highest success rate of 93.2%, compared with 41.6% for arm ( P < .001), 59.7% for head-across-the-bow ( P < .001), and 73.7% for helmet-to-helmet ( P = .001) tackles. Inside-shoulder tackles resulted in head-up tackling in 92.9% compared with 41.7% for head-across-the-bow ( P < .001) and 57.9% for helmet-to-helmet ( P < .001) tackles. There were no recorded injuries to the tackler.

CONCLUSION: Head-up tackles, tackles made at or above the offensive player's waist, and inside-shoulder tackles had the highest success rates. Head-down tackling and tackling below the waist were associated with poor tackling methods, including head-across-the-bow and helmet-to-helmet tackles, which had lower success rates.