INJURIES DURING AN INTERNATIONAL PROFESSIONAL BEACH VOLLEYBALL TOURNAMENT

Abstract

The purpose of this project was to evaluate injury patterns during an international, Olympic qualifier professional beach volleyball tournament. Similar previous analyses have generally focused on indoor, hard court volleyball players. In these studies, the most common injuries generally reported included ankle and thumb sprains, overuse injuries of the knee and shoulder, suprascapular neuropathy, and low back injury. In this 7-day tournament, a total of 35 injuries were recorded. The most common injuries were cervical and low back strains, accounting for 7 (20%) of the injuries. There were also 2 quadriceps strains, 2 iliotibial band syndromes, 2 lateral ankle sprains, 1 supraspinatus strain, and 1 biceps tendonitis. Foot injuries accounted for 5 (14%) of the injuries. Two toe lacerations, 1 sesamoiditis, 1 toenail avulsion, and 1 puncture wound from a nail were noted. Despite a concern about heat injury, mild heat exhaustion occurred in only 1 individual. One anterior shoulder dislocation occurred in an athlete during a jump serve. It appears that the injury pattern does differ between hard court and sand volleyball players. Sand volleyball may be associated with less overuse injuries to the knee, but with an increased risk of traumatic foot injury. Health care personnel covering such events should be prepared for a different injury pattern than is seen in the indoor, hard court game.