Benefits of Playing Basketball: Injury Prevention and Risks

Abstract

This paper will explore two published articles that report on results from research conducted on the benefits of strength training in basketball but also the possible injuries that come with it, and what steps can be taken to help prevent injuries. There’s not debating the health benefits of playing basketball, it helps with building endurance and muscle, improves balance and coordination and is also great for your cardiovascular health. These are all great things for the body but with these benefits come risks, such as injuries. There are a variety of different injuries that can come from playing basketball such as ankle injuries, knee injuries, back injuries, and even head injuries just to name a few. These risks can happen at any age and at any time. Injury prevention is a vital part of basketball as it is one of the most dangerous sports in the world. In this article we will look at scholarly articles that explain the injuries of basketball and how injuries in this sport can be prevented.

Injuries from Playing Basketball

Basketball is a very dangerous sport and injuries can occur very easily throughout the entire body. Sports injuries are commonly caused by overuse, direct impact, or the application of force that is greater than the body part can structurally withstand.  In a study, Standardized data were collected with a validated instrument from 98.1% of the 318 athletes on the eight men's basketball teams in the Canada West Division of the Canadian Intercollegiate Athletic Union. A total of 142 athletes sustained 215 injuries (44.7% of players injured) over the 2-year study period. The greatest number of injuries resulting in more than seven sessions of time loss involved the knee, whereas the most common injuries causing fewer than seven sessions of time loss involved the ankle. The most common mechanism of injury was contact with another player. Injuries occurred 3.7 times more often in games than during practice. Centers had the highest rate of injury, followed by guards, and then forwards. The relative risk of reinjury was significantly increased by previous injuries to the elbow, shoulder, knee, hand, lower spine or pelvis, and by concussions (Hagel, Meeuwisse, Sellmer, 2003). Although it is not considered a collision sport such as hockey or football, basketball is a fast and aggressive game that has been shown to have a high frequency of injury. Men's and women's college-level basketball appears to have the highest frequency of injuries among noncontact sports (Hagel et al., 2003). Basketball has been identified as the sport having the second greatest number of facial injuries, including eye and oral trauma, in the United States.10 The Canadian Hospitals Injury Reporting and Prevention Program (CHIRPP) found that basketball was associated with the greatest number of injuries occurring in players ages 5 to 19 years. Previous research has focused primarily on frequency of injury and not on the actual risks involved in basketball participation (Hagel et al., 2003).

Injury Prevention During Basketball

It’s no secret that basketball is a dangerous sport, many injuries happen every day in all areas of the body. Its important to take preventative measures so that these injuries occur less, but how? A six-year prospective study found that single limb stance instability is a risk factor for lower extremity injuries. Therefore, the development of proprioception may play an important role in injury prevention. This investigation considered a professional basketball team for 6 years, integrating systematic proprioceptive activity in the training routine. The purpose was to assess the effectiveness of proprioceptive training programs based on quantifiable instability to reduce ankle sprains, knee sprains, and low back pain through developing refined and long-lasting proprioceptive control (Bianchi, Mamo, Riva, Rocca, 2016).  

Fifty-five subjects were studied. In the first biennium (two years), the preventive program consisted of classic proprioceptive exercises. In the second biennium, the proprioceptive training became quantifiable and interactive by means of electronic proprioceptive stations. In the third biennium. The intensity and the training volume increased while the session duration became shorter. Analysis of variance was used to analyze the differences in proprioceptive control between groups, years, and biennia. Injury rates and rate ratios of injury during practices and games were estimated. The results showed a statistically significant reduction in the occurrence of ankle sprains by 81% from the first to the third biennium. Low back pain showed similar results with a reduction of 77.8. The reduction in knee sprains was 64.5%. Comparing the third biennium with the level of all new entry players, proprioceptive control improved significantly by 72.2%. These results indicate that improvements in proprioceptive control in single stance may be a key factor for an effective reduction in ankle sprains, knee sprains, and low back pain (Bianchi et al., 2016).

Conclusion

There’s no debating that basketball is a very beneficial sport. Basketball helps burn calories (an hour of basketball can burn 630–750 calories), build endurance, improve balance and coordination, develop concentration and self-discipline, and build up muscle. But what comes with these benefits are the possibility of injuries. A wide variety of injuries can occur while playing basketball with the most frequent injuries revolving around the ankle and knee. Because of these injuries it is important to take preventative measures so that these injuries are less frequent. Taking proprioceptive measures (exercises to improve balance and stability) are proven to help injury prevention and should be incorporated into basketball programs throughout the world, at all ages. In the near future, I would love to see more studies done on injury and injury prevention. As technology advances and people become more athletic I would be curious to see if injuries would rise or decline.

References

1. Bianchi, R., Mamo, C., Riva, D., & Rocca, F. (2016). Proprioceptive Training and Injury Prevention in a Professional Men's Basketball Team: A Six-Year Prospective Study. Journal of strength and conditioning research, 30(2), 461475.doi:10.1519/JSC.0000000000001097.
2. Hagel, B., Meeuwisse, W. H., & Sellmer, R. E. (2003). Rates and Risks of Injury during Intercollegiate Basketball. The American Journal of Sports Medicine, 31(3), 379–385.