What Is the Best Concussion Protection for Football?
Brain injury risk in football (soccer) is not driven by heading alone.
Repeated small-force head impacts, known as sub-concussions, expose players to rotational forces that cause the brain to rotate inside the skull. While heading is an obvious example, these impacts occur more often through head-to-head contact, player-to-player collisions, and head-to-ground contact during challenges or falls.
Focusing only on heading risks overlooks the cumulative exposure of sub-concussions and rotational forces that occur throughout training and match play at all ages and levels. Effective brain protection in football therefore requires equipment designed to reduce rotational force transmission to the brain, not simply cushion surface impact.
These risks are not limited to the professional game. Brain injury risk exists across grassroots, youth, amateur and elite football; and research shows female players and children are more vulnerable to concussion and cumulative brain injury.
Rezon Halos® is a protective headband designed specifically to reduce rotational forces in concussive and sub-concussive head impacts, including those sustained in football collisions (head to head, ball, elbow, knee, ground) and falls [1].
Watch: Why heading is not the main cause of brain injury in football.
What Causes Brain Injury in Football?
Football is commonly associated with heading the ball. However, many head impacts occur during aerial challenges, tackles, collisions, and falls following contact.
When the head is struck at an angle or contacts the ground, rapid angular acceleration occurs. This causes the skull to rotate while the brain lags behind due to inertia. This relative motion creates shear strain within brain tissue and is associated with microscopic damage to brain cells, tearing of tiny fine blood vessels, resulting over time, in the breakdown of the blood-brain barrier and the creation of damaging neuro-inflammation [2].
Over time, repeated exposure to these forces through sub-concussive impacts is associated with cumulative increased brain injury risk, even in players who have never been diagnosed with a concussion [3].
Are Women and Children at Greater Risk of Brain Injury in Football?
Research indicates that female footballers have a higher reported incidence of concussion compared with male players in comparable sports [4]. Differences in neck strength, hormonal factors and reporting patterns may contribute to this increased risk [5].
Children are also more vulnerable. A developing brain is more susceptible to rotational forces, and early exposure creates a longer lifetime window for cumulative sub-concussive impacts [6]. Brain injury risk does not begin at the professional level; it begins in school and grassroots sport.
Given cumulative exposure drives long-term risk, protection strategies are relevant for every age group and level of play.
Why Impact Reduction Does Not Equal Brain Protection
Many football headbands and soft headguards in soccer promote impact protection or shock absorption. These protection claims typically refer to linear force, which describes straight-line acceleration of the skull.
Modern biomechanics research consistently shows that rotational forces are more strongly associated with brain injury than linear acceleration alone [7]. Linear forces primarily accelerate the skull, whereas rotational forces deform brain tissue.
Reducing impact force alone does not effectively reduce concussion risk, if rotational forces are not also controlled.
What Should Footballers Look For in Brain Protection?
Rezon Halos® is differentiated from other Virginia Tech-rated headguards by published rotational force reduction, CE/UKCA Category II PPE certification, and patented Rotection® technology.
| Protective Capability | Rezon Halos® | Storelli ExoShield | Guardian Loop | Headstrong Headguard | Unequal Halo 3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Virginia Tech 5-Star Rated | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Specifically designed brain protection to reduce injury risk | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| Publicly qualified rotational force reduction | Yes (up to 61%) | No | No | No | No |
| CE / UKCA Category II PPE certified | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| Independently tested for reduced concussion risk | Yes (74% concussion risk reduction) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Product specification | Patented Rotection® technology | Foam-based padding | Foam-based padding | Foam-based padding | Foam-based padding |
| Product Weight | 70g | 227g | 190g | 190g | 57g |
| Product thickness | 9.5mm | 19mm | 11mm | 8-17-26mm | 6mm |
Most conventional football headgear is designed to cushion surface impact. Rezon Halos® is designed to reduce rotational force transmission to the brain.
“I bought Halos® for my two sons who play football and rugby. I was looking for protection for their developing brains as awareness grows around the long-term effects of repeated head impacts.
They find them comfortable, they stay in place, and they are proud to wear them. Knowing I’m helping to reduce the impact on their brains gives me huge reassurance.”
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Melissa Emson | Rezon Halos® Customer
This reflects a common pattern across football and other contact and collision sports: brain injury occurs without a diagnosed concussion; instead, it is through repeated sub-concussive impacts and rotational forces during training and match play.
How Does Rezon Halos® Protect the Brain in Football?
Rezon Halos® is not padded headgear. It is CE / UKCA Category II PPE Certified protection designed specifically to reduce rotational force transmission to the brain.
Halos® uses a proprietary multi-layer protective system called Rotection®, in which nine independently moving protective layers dissipate kinetic energy during head impacts.
Independent biomechanics laboratory testing using the Virginia Tech Helmet Lab methodology demonstrates that Halos® reduces rotational force transmission by up to 61%, and reduces concussion risk by 74% [8].
This mechanically differs from foam-based headgear, which primarily cushions the scalp rather than reducing rotational force transmission.
Should Footballers Wear Brain Protection Throughout Play?
Head impacts in football are unpredictable and occur throughout training and match play at grassroots, academy, amateur and professional levels.
Female players and younger athletes face increased vulnerability to concussion and cumulative brain injury, making consistent protection particularly relevant from early participation onwards. Because brain injury risk accumulates over time, protection is most effective when worn consistently throughout football activity, not only when heading the ball, and from as early an age as possible.
Reducing rotational force transmission in head impacts is one of the most effective mitigation strategies for lowering cumulative brain injury risk in football.
The inquest into former professional footballer Gordon McQueen’s death highlighted the need to protect the brain during training as well as in match play, reflecting growing recognition of the cumulative effects of repeated head impacts across a playing career [9].
👉 Learn more about Rezon Halos® and evidence-based brain protection for football here.
- Brain Injury in Football. Further Reading. Rezon.
- Brain Injury Science. Further Reading. Rezon
- What are sub-concussions? Further Reading. Rezon.
- Concussive Head Impact Biomechanics in Women’s Lacrosse and Soccer Athletes: A Case Series, Sayre, H.D. et al, 2019.
- Sex differences in the extent of acute axonal pathologies after experimental concussion, Song H, Tomasevich A, Paolini A, Browne KD, Wofford KL, Kelley B, Kantemneni E, Kennedy J, Qiu Y, Schneider ALC, Dolle JP, Cullen DK, Smith DH, 2024
- Risk of Mental Health Problems in Children and Youths Following Concussion, Ledoux A, Webster RJ, Clarke AE, et al. 2022.
- Biomechanical investigation of head impacts in sport. C Withnall, N Shewchenko, R Gittens, J Dvorak. British Journal of Sports Medicine.
- Rezon Halos® Product Testing.
- Gordon McQueen: The Verdict Is In. Sport Can No Longer Look Away from Brain Injury. Rezon.
Author: Alex Reily
