Volleyball Injuries

When compared to the high-contact level of many other sports, volleyball seems to be a relatively safe sport. In fact, volleyball, which was first known as Mintonette, was actually created by William G. Morgan as an indoor alternative to the rougher sport of basketball. Morgan was a YMCA physical education director and wanted to provide his older YMCA members something that required athleticism, but that wasn’t as rough as basketball.

The rules and play have been refined and modified since their invention in the late 1800s, and the game has even spun a variation that‘s played in the sand, called beach volleyball. Today, volleyball is one of the most popular sports in the world, with more than 800 million worldwide players. In many countries, the sport is played at an Olympic level, professional level, college level, and junior level and in organized leagues, physical education classes, and recreational settings.

What Causes Volleyball Injuries?

While the risk of injury from player-to-player contact is substantially lower than in high contact sports like football, rugby, soccer, and so forth, volleyball isn’t without risk of injury. In 2007, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission estimated that there were 187,000 volleyball-related injuries in the U.S. alone. One common misconception about sport-related injuries is that they predominantly occur on the professional or Olympic level of a given sport. So, it’s important to note that over half of the above 187,000 reported injuries occurred in children younger than 14-years-old.

Volleyball is a sport that requires the player to make sudden, high-impact, and repetitive horizontal and vertical motions. Such motions are seen in diving for a ball, attacking, digging, and jumping to block a ball. These motions place a high degree of stress upon the legs, ankles, and feet. The repetitive overhead motions, such as spiking, blocking, and serving the ball, place a high degree of stress upon the shoulders, arms, hands, and back.

The physical requirements of the game can cause two mechanisms of injury - trauma injuries and overuse injuries. Overuse injuries are the cumulative effects of placing too much or repetitive stress on the muscles, tendons, ligaments, bones, and so forth, such as from over-training.

What Are Some Common Volleyball Injuries?

Ankle Sprains

A sprained ankle is the most common volleyball injury, accounting for up to 60% of all volleyball-related injuries. An ankle sprain occurs when a player abnormally rolls or twists their foot too far inward or outward. It commonly occurs as a player jumps and lands wrong on their foot or on another player’s foot. This causes one or more of the ligaments holding the ankle joint in place to abnormally stretch or tear. An inversion sprain, where the ankle is abnormally rolled or twisted with the sole of the foot facing inward, is the most common sprain. Inversion sprains damage the lateral ligaments along the outside of the ankle.

All sprains are graded based on the degree of injury to the ligament fibers:

* A grade one sprain involves some stretching or microscopic tearing of the ligament fibers. There may be mild pain and swelling around the ankle, but the joint remains stable.

* A grade two sprain involves a moderate amount of ligament fiber tearing. There may be moderate pain, swelling, tenderness, bruising, and joint instability. It may be difficult to walk unassisted.

* A grade three sprain occurs when more than 90% of the affected ligament fibers are torn. There’s usually severe pain, swelling, tenderness, bruising, and gross joint instability. The player will usually be unable to walk unassisted.

Rotator Cuff Injuries

The rotator cuff is made up of the supraspinatus, infraspinatus, subscapularis, and teres minor muscles and their associated tendons. The rotator cuff helps rotate the shoulder and stabilize the shoulder joint. In volleyball, the rotator cuff is commonly injured from the repetitive overhead motions involved in striking, spiking, blocking, and so forth. It can also be injured as a player dives and hit’s the floor with their shoulder or outstretched hand.

Rotator cuff injuries typically describe either the stretching or tearing of one or more of the rotator cuff muscles and/or tendons, which is called a strain, -or- the irritation and inflammation of one of the rotator cuff tendons, which is called tendinitis. Chronic tendinitis of the rotator cuff can lead to strains.

Strains, like sprains, are graded based on the degree of stretching or tearing of the muscle and/or tendon fibers. Grade one strains of the rotator cuff involve mild stretching or microscopic tearing of the fibers, grade two strains involve moderate tearing of the fibers, and grade three strains involve significant to complete tearing of the fibers.

Patellar Tendinopathy / Jumper’s Knee

As mentioned above, tendinitis is the irritation and inflammation of a tendon. Tendinosis, on the other hand, refers to the cellular degeneration of a tendon. These are collectively called tendinopathies.

Patellar tendinopathy involves the patellar tendon that connects the kneecap to the shinbone. This tendon helps the quadriceps straighten the leg, propel jumping motions, and stabilize the landing following a jumping motion. Since the mechanism of injury often involves the repetitive stress placed on the knee from jumping, patellar tendinopathy is often referred to as jumper’s knee.

The pain of jumper’s knee is felt at the bottom front of the kneecap and is often exacerbated when the quadriceps are contracted. At first, pain may only be felt immediately after physical exertion. As the tendinopathy progresses, the pain may be felt before and after physical exertion.

Of course, these are just a few of the potential volleyball-related injuries. Achilles tendinitis; plantar fasciitis; hyperextension or hyperflexion injuries to the fingers, such as finger sprains and fractures; wrist, groin, hamstring, calf, and low-back sprains; shin splints; anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries; and shoulder bursitis are also common concerns for volleyball players.