Injury Prevention

Overuse Injuries:

The below video provides a general overview of overuse/chronic injuries

While acute injuries such as ankle sprains and musculoskeletal strains account for a large portion of types of injuries that occur in hockey, chronic overuse injuries are also quite prevalent (4).

The most prevalent overuse/chronic injuries seen in field hockey are lower back pain and stress fractures of the lower limbs (4)

Lower back pain can be attributed to the constant bent over position while handling the ball and stress fractures of the lower limb can be attributed to the surface played/trained on but mainly the incorrect use of a progressed and periodised strength and conditioning program (4)

The nature of chronic/overuse injuries is that they are typically the result of repetitive activity but the risk can be reduced by the implementation of well-designed and implemented strategies such as load management (see Performance Analysis learning concept) and strength and conditioning programs.