INJURY SURVEILLANCE AT THE USTA BOYS TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS - A 6-YR STUDY

Injuries that required physical or medical assistance were recorded fo r participants at the United States Tennis Association National Boys' Tennis Championships from 1986-1988, 1990-1999 (N = 1440, 240 athletes per year). Over the 6-yr period, a total of 304 athletes (or 21.1%) s ustained new or recurrent injuries that required evaluation by the med ical team. New injuries alone numbered 145 (incidence rate of 9.9 per 100 athletes). The analysis of injuries showed a higher rate of lower than upper extremity injuries. When evaluated by anatomic regions, bac k injuries were most common followed by thigh, shoulder, and ankle inj uries, respectively. When evaluated by injury type, strains and sprain s were most common (71% of all injuries) with fractures and dislocatio ns being rare (1.3% of all injuries). The lower extremity provided the majority of sprain type injuries with 87.5% of ligament sprains comin g from the knee and ankle. Injuries with tennis eponyms (i.e., tennis toe, tennis leg, tennis elbow, and tennis shoulder) were rare (0%-5% o f all injuries). It would appear that these young elite athletes are a t significant risk of injury.