Huang Yun^{1, 2}
PhD, Associate Professor L.V. Bulykina²
Dr. Hab., Professor V.P. Guba^2
1Zhengzhou SIAS University, Henan Province, PRC
² Russian State University of Physical Education, Sports, Youth and Tourism (SCOLIPE), Moscow

Keywords: youth volleyball, injury rate, national volleyball team, Russia, China, gender-specific injury incidence.

Background. Sports-related gender- and age-specific injury data analyses are commonly acknowledged as critical for the injury prevention and competitive progress facilitation initiatives. The China and Russia national volleyball teams, particularly the women’s ones, have long been ranked among the world leaders. A comparative gender- and age-specific national team injury data analysis could be very beneficial for the injury prevention and theoretically grounded training system improvement projects in the both countries.

Objective of the study was to analyze the gender- and age-specific injury statistics of the China and Russia national youth volleyball teams and develop injury prevention recommendations.

Methods and structure of the study. We run an expert questionnaire survey to mine and analyze the injury data on a sample of China (Henan province) 13-17-year-old volleyball elite (189 men and 139 women) with the sports records of 2-8 years (see Table 1 hereunder). The peer Russia volleyball elite injury data were mined in the relevant study reports. A comparative analysis of the above data could be beneficial, as we believe, for the injury prevention and progress facilitation goals.

Table 1. China and Russia national volleyball teams: injury data

Results and discussion. Note that 40.2% (n=140) of the China sample (n=328) reported individual injury histories; with 152 injury cases in total and 46.3% injury rate (computed as the injuries to the total sample ratio) – versus the 45% injury rate with a growth trend in the Russia sample.

The injury survey and examination of the China sample found [7] 112 out of 117 athletes reporting 211 injuries i.e. 1.80 cases per capita. A special survey of the China college subsample [3] found everybody of 72 players having injuries i.e. the injury rate was 100%, with the injury rate of 1.89 cases per capita.

Furthermore, the injury survey of the [China] 19-minus year-old women’s volleyball subsample [4] (n=142) at the First National Youth Games found a 64% injury rate. Note that the injury rate refers only to the active competitors net of the seriously injured ones who failed to qualify for the event, that means that the injury rate was clearly underreported. On the whole, the injury rates in youth teams are lower than in professional and college volleyball teams albeit still high and, hence, deserve special attention. The relatively low injury rates may be partially attributed to the relatively low skill levels and intensity of the trainings. Longer-term studies of the China samples have found the men’s teams most exposed to finger, ankle, shoulder, elbow, waist, knee and wrist injuries; and the women’s teams to the finger, ankle, waist, shoulder and knee injuries. Note that the Russian samples were found more exposed to lower limb injuries.

The Russia volleyball injury statistics for the last 25 years reports the ankle, finger, knee and shoulder injuries among the top four cases, with both acute and fatigue-related habitual injuries (due to the long intensive work with micro-traumas of tissues) reported typical for modern volleyball [9]. Aagaard and Jorgensen classified 97% of the finger injuries and 86% of the ankle injuries with the acute injury class; and 90% of the shoulder injuries and 88% of the knee injuries with the fatigue-related class. They also found at least 55% of the fatigue-related injuries caused by trainings, and 74% of the acute injuries by competitions [8]. Thus the ankle injuries were found dominated by ankle sprains [12] followed by bursitis and fractures (typically hand fingers) [11] in the Russia sample, with the situation largely the same in the China sample.

It should be noted that adolescents are vulnerable to interphalangeal joint injuries due to the still underdeveloped/ weak local muscles and ligaments [6] than often fail to stand high competitive pressures and high ball speed. Ball receiving, passing and blocking moves often result in excessive tension on the fingers and, hence, acute injuries. Excessive ball striking in trainings and competitions may trigger chronic injuries of the interphalangeal joints. As reported by the interviewed coaches, the interphalangeal joint injuries are often caused by the imperfect blocking and excessively strong striking techniques. Players are never fully immune to errors in the ball reception techniques with the fingers exposed to overstrain and injuries as a result. Furthermore, the sport-specific fast jumping and landing moves expose the ankles to high tension that may cause fatigue, hypertension and landing errors with the foot being suddenly contorted and the relatively weak lateral collateral ligament sprained on the outside.

The frequent striking actions imply fast rotations in the shoulder joints with the arms intensively stretched and the tendons of the long heads of the biceps sliding in the nodal groove. High-intensity trainings and competitions with the local overstrain often cause the tendon sheath to wear off and chronically inflame, with the athletes being diagnosed with the biceps tendon tendosynovitis as a result. In the efforts to fast build up the striking speed, the athletes tend to give a special priority to the shoulder joint forward/ downward flexor strengthening trainings often at sacrifice of the scapular muscles strength. As a result, the latter may be overstressed by heavy strikes [6] – when the deltoid muscles of a young athlete are still underdeveloped. When such athlete spikes in an effort to save the ball and lands on the shoulder, he/she often injures the acromion.

It should also be emphasized that the adolescent newcomers to volleyball are still technically unskilled, their ‘ball feel’ is still underdeveloped and no wonder that they are highly exposed to finger injuries. Their movement controls, jumping and landing techniques are still poor as well that makes them vulnerable to ankle injuries, particularly when their enthusiastic running and jumping workloads are mismanaged. Many of them may have elbow injuries due to the technically unskilled efforts to save balls by spiking.

Conclusion. The injury data analyses give grounds to offer the following injury prevention recommendations for the physical training systems:

- A special attention will be paid to the minor/ moderate injuries of ligaments, muscle overstrain and bruises, particularly in the beginner trainings; plus prevention of injuries of the most sensitive bodily parts including fingers, ankles, knees, shoulders, waist and back in the everyday trainings;

- The youth team training and competitive systems will be prudently designed, scheduled and customized to the actual physical and technical fitness levels; and they shall never plainly mimic the adult ones. A special priority will be given to the comprehensive physical fitness and standard sport-specific motor skills building components at no risk for the natural movement biomechanics to fully prevent acute injuries in the process.

References

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Corresponding author: rodin67@bk.ru

Abstract

Objective of the study was to analyze the gender- and age-specific injury statistics of the China and Russia national youth volleyball teams and develop injury prevention recommendations.

Methods and structure of the study. We run an expert questionnaire survey to mine and analyze the injury data on a sample of China (Henan province) 13-17-year-old volleyball elite (189 men and 139 women) with the sports records of 2-8 years (see Table 1 hereunder). The peer Russia volleyball elite injury data were mined in the relevant study reports. A comparative analysis of the above data could be beneficial, as we believe, for the injury prevention and progress facilitation goals.

Results and conclusions. The study found that the vulnerable parts of the Chinese male volleyball players were fingers, ankles, shoulders, elbows, waist, knees, and wrists, and in women - fingers, ankles, waist, shoulders, and knees. In addition, it was found that leg injuries were more common among the Russian volleyball players. The Russian volleyball players suffered 4 major volleyball-related injuries: ankles, fingers, knees, and shoulders.  The injury data analyses give grounds to offer the following injury prevention recommendations for the physical training systems:

- A special attention will be paid to the minor/ moderate injuries of ligaments, muscle overstrain and bruises, particularly in the beginner trainings; plus prevention of injuries of the most sensitive bodily parts including fingers, ankles, knees, shoulders, waist and back in the everyday trainings;

- The youth team training and competitive systems will be prudently designed, scheduled and customized to the actual physical and technical fitness levels; and they shall never plainly mimic the adult ones. A special priority will be given to the comprehensive physical fitness and standard sport-specific motor skills building components at no risk for the natural movement biomechanics to fully prevent acute injuries in the process.