LOWER-LIMB AND BACK INJURY PATTERNS OF ELITE NETBALL PLAYERS

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships between lower limb and back injuries with perceived landing patterns and podi atric variables for injured and uninjured elite netball players. 228 p layers of a possible 240 participants at the 1988 Australian netball c hampionships completed injury questionnaires and were assessed for inj ury status. Approximately 92% of those who were part of the injury sur veys were also given a podiatric assessment. Pearson chi2 and unpaired t-tests were used to assess relationships between injury status in 2 groups (history of injury, and injuries sustained during the champions hips) and perceived landing patterns during play and podiatric variabl es. A significant association was found between history of lower limb and back injuries and level of competition. Open age netballers report ed more injuries than the younger players. During each championship, a similar number of players (23%) were injured irrespective of playing level. 71% of these players sustained a grade 1 injury, 15.4% a grade 2 injury and 13.5% presented with severe grade 3 injuries. 2 players w ere diagnosed with an anterior cruciate ligament injury and a further 3 players sustained a fracture during the championships. Most of the i njuries were ligamentous (40.5%) with some overuse tendinitis (11.5%) problems. The injury history profiles of the elite players surveyed sh owed that ankle and knee injuries were the most common lower limb inju ries with incidences of 58 and 22%, respectively. More than a quarter of the players had overuse type injuries (24% retropatellar pain, 38% shin soreness) and 33% complained of back problems during their career s. 18 significant relationships were found between injuries sustained during a player's career and podiatric measures. Only 22.5% of a playe r's foot types were classified as normal while 42% presented with rear foot varus and 20% were grouped into pronated foot postures.