SPORT SCIENCE FOR HEALTH 2008

Presented by Andria Vetsch and Krista Russell

Are Injury Rates in Female Volleyball

Players Age Related?

Purpose

The purpose of this article was to determine if age plays a role in injury occurrence of female volleyball players.

Procedure

This study consisted of 689 Greek female volleyball players during the 2005-2006 season.

- Observed weekly- Separated into groups

Procedure

When injury occurred, it was put into a category depending on severity

MinorModerateMajor

Results

Injury rate for 689 female volleyball players, by age group

Total Youth (186) Junior (235) Senior (268)

Practice 327 63 104 160

Competition 74 7 19 48

Preseason 99 12 34 53

Competition Season

276 56 84 136

Post -season 6 1 2 3

Results

Mechanism of injury for 407 injuries in volleyball playersInjury mechanism N (%)

Incorrect sprawls 109 (26.8)

Improper technique 38 (9.3)

Step on other’s foot 95 (23.3)

Ball contact 40 (9.8)

Fatigue 70 (17.2)

Inappropriate warm up 16(3.9)

Other 10 (2.5)

Unknown 29 (7.1)

Results

Position Injured Players, n (%)

Injuries, n (%)

Setter (n=150) 77 (22.4)* 86 (21.1)*

Libero (n=70) 37 (10.8) 43 (10.6)

Middle hitter (n=135) 54 (15.7) 60 (14.7)

Outside hitter (n=180) 90 (26.2)* 115 (28.3)*

Universal (n=154) 86 (25.0)* 103 (25.3)*

Total (n=689) 344 (100) 407 (100)

Playing position of 344 injured volleyball players

Results

Acute and Chronic injuries, by anatomical location

Location Acute injuries (n=279)

Overuse syndromes

(n=108)

Total injuries(n=407

)

Ankle or foot 200 5 205(50.4%)

Knee or thigh 35 29 64 (15.7%)

Spine 18 25 43 (10.6%)

Shoulder 10 29 39 (9.6%)

Hand 16 30 36 (8.8%)

Unknown (missing data)

20 (4.9%)

Implications

Design effective training programs to strengthen weak areas (ankles, back, etc.)

Knowledgeable and aware of population

Exercises for Prevention

Proprioception – balancing on foam, towels on one foot to improve balance (increase difficulty by closing eyes)

Thera BandsIncorporate one legged lifts into exercises to increase ankle stability.

Limitations/Future Research

What type of treatment was used, if any?

Where athletes include more than once in the data collected due to repeat injuries?

Wearing active anklesConditioning/training programMore specific