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Expensive trainers take a toll on basketball players' ankles

Ankle injuries in basketball: injury rate and risk factors 2001; 35: 103-8

Basketball players wearing trainers with air cells in the heels are over four times more vulnerable to ankle injury, finds a study in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

A courtside study of over 10,000 mostly recreational players in Australia revealed an injury rate of 3.85 per 1000, with 37 players sustaining an ankle injury.

Almost half of the injuries occurred during landing, with half of these attributable to landing on another player's foot. Sharp twisting and turning, an integral part of basketball technique, accounted for almost a third of all ankle injuries.

Players who did not stretch before play were over 2.5 times as likely to injure their ankles. Players who had already injured their ankles were almost five times as likely to do so again. Three quarters of the injured players fell into this category. Around one in four players had not sought medical advice the first time around, a factor which may have played a part in subsequent injury, suggest the authors.

Players who wore shoes with air cells in the heels were over four times as likely to injure their ankles. These shoes were significantly more expensive than those without air cells in the heels. The authors suggest that such shoes may decrease heel stability, so making the ankle more vulnerable to injury.

Contact:

Ms Gaylene McKay, School of Physiotherapy, La Trobe University, Victoria, Australia. aphasportsmed@preston.hotkey.net.au

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