We’ve been loving watching the amazing performances by the Spar Proteas and Banyana Banyana this year! Seeing South African women representing their country on international fields and doing so well is filling our hearts with pride. Here’s something you might not have ever thought about though, how do the different playing surfaces affect players in terms of injuries?
We can all deduce that scraping your knee on grass is way different than scraping your knee on a netball court, but those aren’t the type of injuries we’re talking about. Different surfaces have different levels of bounce and grip which influences how quickly we’re able to change direction or how much impact our knees and lower limbs might experience when landing from a jump.
Here are some of the most common injuries related to common playing surfaces:
- Anterior knee pain
- Patella tendonitis( jumpers knee)
- Osgood Schlatters(at insertion of patella tendon to top of shin bone)
- Shin splints( anterior and posterior)
- Ankle foot ligament and tendon strains and sprains
- Stress fractures
- Achilles tendonitis
- Sever’s disease ( at insertion of Achilles tendon at back of heel)
All surfaces have different pro’s and con’s and that’s why we use them for different seasons and types of sports. It is therefore important to always ensure that you know and understand the different risks and have appropriate shoes and protective equipment when switching between different types of surfaces.
