Wanna reduce concussions in soccer by 20 percent?!?! Reduce the air pressure in the balls ... so says Purdue University.
Yeah, this is potentially huge news.
A team of engineers at Purdue have been looking into ways to make the game safer, citing claims that 22% of soccer injuries are "concussions that can result from players using their heads to direct the ball during a game."
Long story short, the team believes there's a connection between air pressure and injury ... and inflating balls to a lower pressure could make a HUGE difference to player health.
"The study, conducted by Purdue University engineers, found that inflating balls to pressures on the lower end of ranges enforced by soccer governing bodies such as the NCAA and FIFA could reduce forces associated with potential head injury by about 20%," the school said in a statement.
The researchers also recommended swapping out wet balls for dry ones -- because they more water they take on, they more danger they pose to players.
“If the ball has too high of a pressure, gets too waterlogged, or both, it actually turns into a weapon," said Eric Nauman, who spearheaded the study.
"Heading that ball is like heading a brick."
Now, Purdue is hoping to team up with a high school or college athletic conference to conduct more expansive research in the hopes of making the game safer moving forward.