Squash Injuries, Part 1

There isn't a boatload of research on injuries in squash. I discovered one interesting review, however, from the South African Journal of Sports Medicine. The review, from 2007, can be read here: Squash Injuries.

The authors wanted to get a fix on the number and kind of musculoskeletal injuries among adolescent squash players, and the mechanism by which the injury happened.  The study was a retrospective descriptive study, meaning data was assembled from squash players who were asked to look back over the last 4 weeks and recall any injuries they had experienced. 

It should be noted that the musculoskeletal system in adolescents is still maturing, and as such is more susceptible to injury. The authors note, "The biomechanical demands placed on the vulnerable neuro-musculoskeletal system of young people by high-intensity sports such as squash may be an injury risk factor."

Their results: "Twenty-nine per cent of the players (N = 31) reported that they had sustained a squash injury in the 4 weeks prior to data collection. A total of 48 injuries were reported by the injured players. The most common injuries included those of the thigh (19%), shoulder (13%) and lower back (13%). Forty-two per cent of players reported no specific mechanism of injury, but experienced pain not associated with a traumatic injury only while playing squash." They found that those who stretched before the match suffered injuries at half the rate as those who didn't.

The mechanism of injury was also interesting: 

Lunging                          10%

Tripping and falling           12%

Jump and landing              12%

Impact from ball/racket      17%

Collision with player/wall   19%

No traumatic incident         31%

I'll review another study, by Marty Clark, MD, in my next blog.....