Volleyball players have the lowest rate of injuries when compared to other sports but the players are vulnerable to traumatic and overuse injuries.
Common Injuries
- Shoulder Injuries
Repetitive overhead motions, like serving,spiking and blocking, makes players prone to shoulder injuries like:
- Shoulder irritation and inflammation
- Rotator cuff Tendonitis
- Shoulder Impingement syndrome
- Finger Injuries
Blocking, setting and digging actions make use of fingers, which makes them prone to injuries like fractures, dislocations and tendon & ligament tears.
- Ankle Sprains
Blocking & spiking actions need the players near the net and it involves jumping and sometimes landing on other player’s foot causing ankle sprains, which can be associated with subtle fractures or cartilage injuries.
- Knee Injuries
Constant jumping leads to:
- Jumper’s Knee: injury of the patellar tendon found just below the kneecap.
- ACL tears:ligament inside the knee loses stability and the sense of lower leg’s position.
Causes
Majority of Volleyball injuries are caused by overuse and overtraining and can be classified as:
- Imbalances in Strength and Flexibility
Since volleyball players concentrate only on volleyball and perform less cross-training, leading to muscle imbalances, i.e., the regularly used muscles becomes stronger than the others.
- Improper Landing Techniques
Volleyball has a lot of landing and improper landing techniques cause injuries. Players must land with their knees over their toes and their hips back. If the players land with an increased knee bend or knees over the toes puts more strain the knees.
- Poor Body Control
A lack of balance or body control leads to knee and ankle injuries since body control decreases injuries and increase power of hits and serves.
Prevention
These injuries can be prevented by:
- Maintaining Fitness:
Be sure to be in good shape before playing.
- Interval Training : Perform different endurance training like long distance running and cardiovascular interval training drills like, ladder drills, plyometrics etc.
- Strength Training : Training for strengthening the core and legs will improve the athlete’s balance and jump height. Planks, bridges etc. will help in core strength while lunges, squats etc., help in leg strengthening.
- Warm-Up and Stretching
Cold muscles are prone to injury. Always take time to do warm-ups like jumping jacks, stationary cycling or running or walking in place for 3-5 minutes. Then stretch for a couple of minutes.
- Cool-Down and Stretching
Stretching is recommended at the end to reduce muscle soreness and keeping muscles long and flexible and reduce injury.
- Hydrate
Body cannot cool itself through sweat and evaporation, if not hydrated enough. Drinking around 8 oz. cup of water every 20 minutes is recommended.
- Sun Protection
Playing volleyball outdoors require proper sun protection: sunglasses, hat and sunscreen.
Treatment
Dr Banarji B.H, Best Orthopaedic Surgeon provides you quality accessible volleyball injury treatment to keep you in the game.
