ABSTRACT

The Differences in Impact Shock and Force in Football and Rugby Tackling.

Megan Mondek (St. Thomas Aquinas HS)

Advisors: Diane Enten, Erin Williams (St. Thomas Aquinas HS)

An estimated 2.5 million students received sports-related head-trauma and football and rugby have a twenty percent higher chance than any sport. Both have individual styles; rugby has a pelvic tackle while football has a mid-upper body tackle creating different centers of gravity.  This experiment brings in force of impact and impact shock to help understand the effects of the two types of tackling. The force of impact is calculated through a series of equations including change in momentum, inelastic collision, and speed which was created by Megan Mondek. Impact shock was previously determined through a shock indicator on a moving tackling dummy during practice. Videos of athletes starting 27.43m from a dummy; showed upon cue that both approach each other until tackle is complete. Data from the Shock Box was previously collected but never analyzed by the athletic department. Results supported the hypothesis for force of impact, showed an average of -3.28N for rugby and -3.13N for football. The t-test showed no statistical significance. Results supported the hypothesis that rugby has the lowest amount of shock with the average of 86.8g while football recieved 111.83g due to the lower positioning of the tackle. Between the two, there was a mean difference of 24.7g.  T-test analysis demonstrates an extremely significant difference between the two tackles.