Peer-Reviewed Study Identifies Guardian FLEX SoftShox Chinstrap as Best-Performing for Facemask Impact Protection

Peer-Reviewed Study Identifies Guardian FLEX SoftShox Chinstrap as Best-Performing for Facemask Impact Protection. Sports protective leader Guardian Sports & Stanford founded SoftShox achieves up to a 35% reduction in Head Acceleration Response Metric

ATLANTA (July 01, 2026) – Guardian Sports, the company leading sports safety at all levels of play, announces its inclusion in a new peer-reviewed study published in the Annals of Biomedical Engineering, highlighting statistically significant effects of the Guardian FLEX SoftShox Chinstrap, including up to a 35% reduction in HARM (Head Acceleration Response Metric) during laboratory testing. 

In 2024, the NFL found that 44% of in-game concussions were caused by facemask-to-facemask blows, and 50% of all impacts are facemask-to-facemask. The facemask zone is the most underdeveloped impact location on the modern football helmet. The new Guardian FLEX SoftShox Chinstrap aims to address that gap.

The new publication evaluated fourteen different chinstraps as part of official laboratory impact testing, with head kinematics recorded to calculate HARM rates. The results demonstrated statistically significant impact reductions among bottom straps compared to top straps, as well as thicker chin cup liners compared to thinner models.

The study found that the Guardian FLEX SoftShox Chinstrap achieved a 35% reduction in HARM at 3.0 m/s and a 31% reduction in HARM at 7.3 m/s, providing peer-reviewed evidence of its impact-mitigating performance.

Guardian Sports COO Jake Hanson shares, “This study marks a major milestone in sports safety & our quest to improve athlete protection & performance, providing scientific validation for the safety benefits of the Guardian FLEX SoftShox Chinstrap. We’re thankful to collaborate with the innovative team at SoftShox to achieve this milestone and look forward to seeing the Guardian FLEX SoftShox Chinstrap on football fields across the country this Fall.”

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With teams across the U.S., from high school athletes to professional leagues, planning to wear the chinstrap during the upcoming 2026 season, this new data is expected to further support adoption.

To learn more about the Guardian FLEX SoftShox Chinstrap, visit https://guardiansports.com/

ABOUT GUARDIAN SPORTS

Founded in 2010, Guardian Sports is on a mission to better protect athletes at every level of play. Its flagship product, the Guardian Cap, was originally developed to reduce head impacts during football practice and has since expanded into game-day use across all levels of play. Guardian Sports also created the LOOP 5-STAR VT rated flag football headband, PEARL lacrosse balls, FLEX chinstrap, and bio-based turf INFILL. Trusted by athletes nationwide, Guardian continues to lead in safety-driven innovation.