A recently conducted study indicates that concussion injuries to high school and college going football players occur more often during practice than during games.

The reason highlighted by the study is a simple matter of numbers, said researchers. For, every game player will have to participate in numerous practices.

The researchers for the study gathered data on concussions among nonprofessional football players ages 5 to 23 during two consecutive seasons.

Researchers at the Datalys Center for Sports Injury Research and Prevention in Indianapolis, Ind., analyzed data from more than 115 youth football teams, 96 high school programs and from 24 colleges.

The study published in JAMA Pediatrics said that in the youngest players, concussions occurred more frequently during games. But for both high school and college players 57% of the reported concussions were suffered during practice, said researchers.

The researchers suggested that one reason for this could be that older players practice more often, and are larger than younger players. Older player are also capable of hitting an opponent harder, they said.

Study lead author Thomas P. Dompier said in a statement that this problem is more common at the high school level than in college.

Dompier said from his experience of working as an athletic trainer, college coaches rarely schedule full-contact drills during practice, focusing more on strategy and tactics.

“At the youth and high school levels, coaches still teach tackling, and in my opinion, most still mistakenly believe the only way they can teach tackling is through player-to-player contact”, he said.

Other experts also agreed on the point that limiting such contact during practice would reduce the rate of concussions.

Dr. John Kuluz, concussion director at Nicklaus Children's Hospital in Miami said one cannot eliminate all player-to-player contact in practice. But there are always some alternatives like hitting dummies or using sleds rather than hitting each other.