Ankle Injury Prevention
Many people wonder what the most common basketball
injury is, and how often it occurs.
Basketball is one of America’s favorite sports
because it is fun but also because it requires so little equipment and it is
inexpensive. The true cost of the sport may be the injuries in basketball,
which happen because of the running, jumping, quick changing of direction, and
physical contact. Ankle injuries are frequent.
A sprained ankle is an injury
that occurs when you roll, twist or turn your ankle in an awkward way. This can
stretch or tear ligaments that help hold your ankle bones
together. Ligaments help stabilize joints, preventing excessive movement.
It occurs when the ligaments are forced beyond their normal range of
motion. Most sprained ankles involve injuries to the ligaments on the outer
side of the ankle.
FACTS
According to a study in the British Journal of Sports Medicine,
one out of every five athletic injuries is an ankle sprain, and 73 percent of
all athletes suffer multiple ankle sprains during their careers. Due to the
frequency of the injury, its severity is often ignored, which can result in
lingering instability and pain that impairs performance.
Prevention
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Miami Heat's Dwayne Wade doing
his Strengthening routine.
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To counter this trend,
basketball players can employ preventative measures. Using a brace or tape for
additional external support will reduce the number of ankle sprains. More
important, integrating prehab exercises into your workouts will strengthen the
stabilizing muscles, increase coordination and help your muscles develop the
quick activation needed to protect your ankles while they support your
bodyweight.
Personal
Experience
Being a basketball player, I know and have
experienced many sprained ankles. It’s one of the most annoying injuries. I've
missed many games due to ankle injuries. In my last day of practice before the
regional championship game my senior year, I jumped for a rebound and landed on
one of my teammates foot. I suffered a really bad sprain, and was forced to
watch as my team won a nail biter.
I like your emphasis on the frequency of ankle injuries. I think you could make a case that they're a big concern for athletes of all sports (perhaps not as much swimming/other water sports? I don't know too much about that; I can swim to survive and.. that's pretty much it), not just basketball. The most frustrating part, I think, is that weak ankles and stretched ligaments are very prone to re-injury.
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