Does protective headgear affect linear and angular acceleration of the head during soccer heading?

The ability of headbands to protect the head during heading of a soccer ball was studied. A magnesium head form was instrumented with four tri-axial accelerometers and subjected to impact with a soccer ball. Tests were performed at three ball speeds (9, 12, 15 m/s) with no headband and with four commercially available headbands. The accelerations from all sensors (12 acceleration components) were used to estimate linear acceleration of the center of mass and angular acceleration of the head form. The ball speed affected linear and angular acceleration greatly, but the headbands did not.