Assessing Header Impacts in Soccer with a Smartball

Heading the ball is a fundamental skill in soccer. But, recent studies have shown that players who headed the ball frequently were more vulnerable to concussion. To record head impacts and flag potential concussions, intra-oral and head-mounted devices such as Vector MouthGuard and Biosystems xPatch have been developed. However, they are yet to gain wider acceptance, perhaps because they are inconvenient and expensive. Since headers involve contact with the ball, we leverage this unique opportunity in soccer to explore using a smart ball for monitoring headers. We develop a method to assess the impact of headers using the Adidas micoach soccer ball and compare its performance with that of the xPatch. We find that, while micoach ball is somewhat limited in its sensing capabilities, there is enough promise that a similar ball with a better accelerometer can be an affordable and convenient alternative for monitoring and preventing concussions in millions of soccer players.