Date of Award

5-2018

Document Type

Open Access Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Kinesiology

First Advisor

Larissa True, Ph.D.

Second Advisor

Trisha Donnelly, MA, ATC

Third Advisor

Jeffrey Bauer, Ph.D.

Abstract

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: Men’s lacrosse is a sport that is growing in popularity. The mandatory shoulder pads have no limit of use standards and are rarely studied. The purpose of the study was to measure peak impact force (IF) of new and used lacrosse shoulder pads. METHODS: Six lacrosse shoulder pads, three new models (Warrior MPG 8.0 shoulder pad, STX Jolt shoulder pad and Warrior Player’s Club Hitlyte shoulder pad) and three used models of the same shoulder pads with at least four seasons of use (Warrior MPG shoulder pad, STX Jolt shoulder pad and Warrior Player’s Club Hitlyte shoulder pad) were tested. A drop mechanism was built that released a weighted ball on the thorax region of the shoulder pads to replicate game-like forces. Peak IF was measured with a motion analysis system (Peak Motus version 6.0) via a Bertec force plate (#K00606, Bertec Columbus, OH, USA). ANALYSIS: To compare impact force between the pairs of new and used shoulder pads, three separate independent t-tests were run. A one-way ANOVA was run to determine if significant differences in IF exist among all six shoulder pads. Lastly, a one-way ANOVA was conducted to determine if price (as a latent variable) of shoulder pads differed by IF among the three new models. RESULTS: The new models of shoulder pads reduced peak IF more effectively with the most expensive pads performing the best followed by the cheapest shoulder pad then the moderately priced shoulder pads. CONCLUSION: New shoulder pads reduce peak IF better than older shoulder pads. Additionally, the cost of the shoulder pad may not be a true indicator of peak IF reduction.

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