The Impact of the Ivy League Athletic Conference’s Tackling Ban: A Quantitative Case Study

The purpose of this study was to explore and examine the ramifications of the Ivy League Athletic Conference’s decision to implement a tackling ban that prohibited contact tackling during all Ivy League football practices; the ban commenced at the start of the 2016 football season. Specifically, the...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: McCrae, Phillip D
Format: Dissertation
Language:English
Published: ProQuest Dissertations & Theses 01-01-2018
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Summary:The purpose of this study was to explore and examine the ramifications of the Ivy League Athletic Conference’s decision to implement a tackling ban that prohibited contact tackling during all Ivy League football practices; the ban commenced at the start of the 2016 football season. Specifically, the study explored whether the tackling ban diminished tackling performance of Ivy League tacklers. The non-experimental correlational quantitative case study design included the use of the Generalized Estimating Equations (GEE) that included descriptive analysis, logistical regression, and Wald’s Chi Square test of significance. The quantitative design also leveraged a tackling efficiency formula obtained from Pro Football Focus to calculate tackling efficiency. The researcher of this study observed actual game tackle attempts of University X tackles during the 2015 (pre-ban) and 2016 (post-ban) football seasons. The total dataset included population included 986 plays from games (453 from pre-ban 2015 and 533 from post-ban 2016) in which at least one tackle attempt was made by a University X tackler. Pre-ban results (2015) were compared to post-ban results (2016). The results showed that overall, there were no significant differences in tackling performances by University X tacklers resulting from the tackling ban. However, the tackling ban was found to impact the tackling performances during the fourth quarter of games, as well as the position of defensive linemen. Also, the ban did impact post ban (2016) tackling efficiency in games against non-Ivy League opponents.
ISBN:9781687910493
1687910499