MADISON — A new study found that limiting full-contact practices for high school football teams decreased the rate of sports-induced concussions by 57%, according to our partners at WISC-TV.
In 2014, the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association required no full-contact activities during the first week of preseason. Teams are now limited to 75 minutes of full contact the second week and only 60 minutes every week after that. Those practice times do not include weekly games.
In the 2014 season, researchers at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health found there were only 15 concussions per 1,000 athletes participating in practice, compared with the 86 each year the two years before.
Initial opponents of the rule claimed athletes would learn poor technique and lead to an increased risk of injury during games. Researchers have found that argument to be invalid.
