Common Basketball Injuries

Basketball is an exciting, fast paced game that has seen a huge rise in popularity throughout the UK over the last three years.

As physiotherapists, we have also seen a rise in the number of patients we see with a basketball related injury. So we thought it would be useful for any budding basketballers out there to know some of the common injuries seen in basketball, and how to prepare yourself better through specific training.

Common injuries

1. Hamstring and calf strains are two very common muscular injuries sustained playing basketball, due to the explosive nature of the sport (ie sprinting and jumping). As with any other sporting activity an active warm-up is paramount in preventing muscular strains. This might entail a light jog/ride/pre-game shoot around, primarily to warm the core temperature of your muscles and get the blood moving. This would be followed by a light stretching session: calf/hamstring/thigh/shoulders. Note: Stretching down after your play is even more important than your pre-game stretching.
2. Ankle, knee and shoulder joint injuries are also common place on a basketball court. Being a semi-contact sport some injuries are unavoidable, but if you are able to improve attributes like strength, balance and co-ordination the likelihood of joint injuries, and also muscular injuries will be a lot less.

For upper limb strength, try some easy compound exercises like chest press, shoulder press, seated row, or lat pull downs. Some lower limb exercises like squats, leg press or lunges are fantastic for building the necessary strength required for jumping and sprinting.
However, nothing can compare with sport specific training, and with basketball you need to be able to sprint, jump, accelerate and decelerate quickly. So going for a nice easy jog will not specifically be training you for basketball, you would be better doing intermittent sprints, change of direction, and jumping activities.

If you keep yourself strong, flexible and train the ‘specific traits’ required for the game of basketball, your chances of injury reduce, and your chances of being a decent basketballer will increase. .