How to help prevent common sports injuries

Injuring yourself when trying to stay active and healthy is not only painful, but disheartening. It can literally stop you in your tracks, slow down your fitness momentum, and generally make you feel a bit deflated.

Whether you’re starting a new sport or returning to an old one, here’s how you can reduce the chances of an injury interrupting your health and fitness journey.

How can you reduce the risk of a sports injury?

Sports often involve repetitive and sudden movements, which can put a lot of pressure/load on our muscles, bones and joints over a long period of time.

Most sports injuries result from:

• Doing too much, too soon.
• Overestimating your fitness and ability.
• Lack of preparation, poor technique, poor equipment.
• Pushing your body above its limits (over-training).
• Poor recovery e.g. sleep, nutrition, hydration levels.
  
  

Taking simple and sensible precautions can help reduce your risk of injury, for example:

• Choose an activity appropriate to your fitness level.
• Gradually increase the intensity.
• Use the proper technique and equipment.
• Spend time warming up and cooling down.
• Allow adequate time to rest and recover between exercise.
• Pay attention to any signs of pain, discomfort or fatigue.
• Stay well hydrated and maintain a well-balanced diet.

Common sports injuries

1. Sprains

A sprain occurs when there has been an overstretch or tear of a ligament. They can range in severity from mild to severe, depending on the number of fibres involved and mechanism of injury. The most common areas for sprains are your ankle, knee, wrist, and thumb.

Most sprains are treated successfully at home with rest, ice, compression, and elevation followed by gradual loading and a period of rehab.

Common causes

Activities that involve overextension, plyometrics e.g. jumping, exercising on an uneven surface, sudden twists and changes of direction, and falling on an outstretched hand.

For example, tennis, football, basketball, gymnastics, and trail running.

How to reduce the risk

Regular stretching alongside strengthening and conditioning the muscles around your joint can help reduce the risk of injury. There’s no gold standard exercise programme to prevent injuries, as sporting demands can vary. But a good programme should include:

Stretching/mobility of all muscle groups

• Ensure your muscles are adequately warmed up with dynamic stretching prior to exercise.
• Cool down using static stretches following exercise.

A well-rounded strengthening programme

• This will help ensure there are no muscle imbalances.
• For example, when it comes to running - look to include exercises such as squats, lunges, hamstring curls, calf raises, glute bridges, and single leg step ups.

Balance

• Many sports involve balancing on one foot at some-point (even if for a short period). Ensuring good balance and stability of joints will help reduce your risk of injury.
• Examples include holding onto a stable surface and aiming to balance on one leg for around 20-30 secs, then you can progress by closing your eyes or taking the support away.

The use of appropriate/supportive footwear, wrist supports, and ankle/knee sleeves can also offer additional support and protection.

2. Strains

Strains are an injury to a muscle or tendon (the fibrous tissue that connects muscles to bone). Minor strains are when a muscle or tendon is overstretched, while more severe injuries can involve partial or complete tears.

Common causes

Strains can occur because of an increase in mechanical stress through the muscle, caused by repetitive movements/loading, by using poor body mechanics to lift something heavy or due to a sudden increase in duration, intensity, or frequency of activities. For example:

• Sports that involve quick starts and jumping e.g. basketball, hurdling.
• Gripping sports that can strain your hand e.g. golf, gymnastics.
• Racket sports e.g. tennis, squash.
• Throwing sports e.g. netball, cricket.
• Contact sports e.g. groin and hamstring strains are very common in football. (In 2023-2024 there was an 18% increase in hamstring injuries in Premier League players¹.)

How to reduce the risk

The main ways to reduce risk of a muscle/tendon strain include:

• Gradual loading and increase in activity levels.
• Adequate warming up and cooling down.
• Allowing enough time to rest and recover e.g. rest days throughout the week and getting enough sleep (aiming for 7-9 hours per night). 
• Following a strength and conditioning programme to protect your joints.

3. Knee injuries

Your knee is the largest joint in your body. It’s complex, as it’s made up of four main structures: bone, cartilage, ligaments, and tendons. It’s one of your most easily injured joints because it takes your full body weight.

The most common knee injuries include tears or overload of the soft tissue (e.g. ligaments, cartilage, tendons). Less common injuries include fractures and dislocations.

Common causes

Any sport that involves a lot of jumping, quick movements (e.g. change of direction, pivoting) and physical contact e.g. cycling, skiing, martial arts, rugby and netball. These activities put a lot of stress on your knee joint and its surrounding structures. Knee injuries are particularly common when your knee is twisted when bearing weight.

How to reduce the risk

Increasing stability and improving shock absorption of your knee joint by strengthening the muscles above and below your joint including your quads, hamstrings, glutes, and calves has been shown to help reduce injuries².

Although not a one-size-fits-all model – the most common exercises to assist the strengthening of these muscle groups are exercises such as squats, lunges, bridges, single-leg deadlifts, as well as step ups. It’s also advised to incorporate stretching, core training and plyometrics e.g. hops and squat jumps into your exercise regime depending on your sport/activities.

4. Shin splints

Shin splints are a common exercise-related problem, often developing after physical activity. The term ‘shin splints’ (or medial tibial stress syndrome) refers to pain along the inner edge of your shin bone (tibia).

This type of pain is due to inflammation of the muscles/tendons around your tibia. Repetitive stress on the muscles, tendons and shin bones results in pain and tenderness along the front of your lower leg.

Common causes

Shin splints typically occur after sudden changes in activity levels. Runners are more prone to develop shin splints due to the repetitive nature of the activity. Common reasons for the onset of shin splints are:

• Increasing training frequency e.g. running 1-2 times per week to 3-4 times.
• Changes in duration e.g. increasing running distance or time.
• Changes in intensity e.g. running on hills versus flat surface or changing running type e.g. going from long distance to interval/speed work. 
• Increasing your exercise too soon. 
• Wearing incorrect footwear.
• Adopting a poor running technique.
• Natural biomechanics e.g. flat feet/high arches.

How to reduce the risk

There are many ways to reduce the risk of developing shin splints or help stop them from returning. For example, running on softer surfaces, stretching your lower limb muscles, gradually increasing activities and load, cross training, appropriate rest and recovery, and investing in specialist footwear.

5. Bone fractures

Fractures occur when there is a crack or break in the continuity of a bone. They often happen when more force is applied to the bone than it can withstand e.g. impact injury or trauma.

Stress fractures, which are small cracks that develop over time due to repetitive force on a bone, can also occur in sport. Up to 90% of stress fractures are in the lower limb (due to weight-bearing), with upper limb stress fractures accounting for less than 10% of all stress fractures³.

Common causes

Fractures

Sports that involve high-impact collisions, rapid acceleration and deceleration, or direct contact with opponents increase the risk of potential fractures. Examples include:

• Wrist fractures from falling on an outstretched hand e.g. rugby, basketball, boxing.
• Ankle fractures from awkward landings or sudden changes in direction e.g. gymnastics, football.
• Finger fractures from impact with a ball or opponent e.g. hockey, cricket.
• Collarbone fractures from direct blows or falls onto the shoulder e.g. wrestling, judo, rugby.

Stress fractures

These are typically caused by increasing the intensity of your activity too quickly, as well as overuse and repetitive activity. For example, gymnastics, running or a change in training surface can involve landing on hard surfaces repetitively.

How to reduce the risk

Footwear and protective equipment that’s been designed specifically for your sport will help protect key impact areas. Increasing your exercise intensity gradually, warming up and cooling down and incorporating strength training into your programme will also help with overuse injuries.

6. Dislocations

Dislocations are injuries where the bones of the joint are forced apart and out of their normal position. For a dislocation to occur in larger joints such as your shoulder joint, it generally requires a considerable force e.g. during contact sports or a fall. For smaller joints, less impact is needed - for example, bending the wrong way with force, such as thumbs and fingers.

Common causes

Joint dislocations are more common in sports with a higher risk of impact, collisions, falls or awkward landings, for example:

• Impact injuries. Direct force to a joint such as the shoulder or knee during contact sports e.g. football, hockey.
• Falls. Landing awkwardly on joints such as the shoulder, elbow or hip e.g. being tackled in rugby.
• Overextension. Sports that involve a lot of twisting and turning e.g. gymnastics, basketball.
• Sudden changes in direction or unexpected movements e.g. netball, football.

Other risk factors include:

• Weakness in the supporting ligaments or muscles.
• Previous dislocations.

How to reduce the risk

Regular strength training and stretching exercises will help strengthen the muscles around your joints and improve the flexibility and stability of your joints. Wearing the right protective equipment such as braces or supports will also lessen the risk of dislocation. Learning correct techniques and form specifically for your sport will also minimise the risk.

7. Concussion

Concussions are mild traumatic brain injuries caused by an impact to your head or body. This could be from a fall, or any impact that causes your brain to move inside your skull.

Common in sports, concussions can occur from collisions, falls, or contact with equipment or other players – with most people fully recovering post-concussion. Not everyone who experiences an impact to the head or body has a concussion, but if you are concerned you have a concussion, please seek medical advice.

Common causes

• High impact sports e.g. rugby, martial arts, football, hockey.
• Falls e.g. skiing, snowboarding, gymnastics.
• Collision with equipment e.g. heading a football.
• Head-to-head or head-to-surface contact - accidental collisions between athletes or hard surfaces.

How to reduce the risk

Wearing properly fitting and well-maintained protective gear, such as helmets, are essential to reduce the risk of potential concussions. Following rules, regulations and being trained in proper techniques will also help to avoid any unsafe play. Education and awareness are also crucial. Being able to spot the signs and symptoms of concussion⁴ will ensure the right care is provided at the right time.

Returning to a sport when you’re older

There are certain things in life you can return to without injury. A puzzle, a TV series, a favourite holiday spot. But when it comes to returning to an old sport… it’s not that simple.

Despite knowing we’re older, maybe a stone heavier, lead a less healthy lifestyle, and haven’t used a range of movement for years, it can still be a shock when our body doesn’t perform like it used to.

A big concern for those returning to sport later in life are chronic conditions, such as osteoarthritis, chronic shoulder, lower back and knee pain. Another frequent worry is a higher risk of injuries or exacerbations of previous injuries/pains.

To limit the impact on your joints, if going back to the “full sport” seems too much, then there are many other adaptations which can be made, for example:

• Join a walking team e.g. walking football, netball. 
• Use smaller courts/fields for less movements e.g. pickleball versus tennis.
• Change your equipment e.g. different balls/rackets for tennis or lighter balls for bowling.
• Focus on strength training to keep your bones and joints healthy and strong to reduce your risk of fractures and joint replacements. It will also increase independent living and functionality.

These simple changes can help reduce the overall load, helping you return to the sport you once loved, while minimising any injury risk. These changes can be short or long term – so if you’re feeling fitter, stronger, and more confident, you can slowly increase the load/complexity.

Make sure to approach your return with caution. A healthcare professional can assess your physical condition and provide guidance on a suitable training and rehabilitation plan to ease you back into your sport.

Finally - be kind to yourself. Your body will need a good amount of time for rest and recovery, so adjust your training intensity and frequency as needed. Lower your expectations, listen to your body, and build up your fitness from there.

**The information contained in this document is for guidance and information only. If you are concerned or want further guidance about any muscle, bone or joint pain then always seek medical advice **

References

1. Premier League injuries – Premier Injuries
2. Arundale A., Bizzini M., Giordano A., Hewett T., Logerstedt D., Mandelbaum B., et al. Exercise-Based Knee and Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injury Prevention: Clinical Practice Guidelines Linked to the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health From the Academy of Orthopaedic Physical Therapy and the American Academy of Sports Physical Therapy. JOSPT 2018 Sep;48(9):A1-42.
3. Da Rocha Lemos Costa TM, Borba VZC, Correa RGP, Moreira CA. Stress fractures. Archives of Endocrinology and Metabolism [Internet]. 2022 Jan 1;66(5):765–73.
4. Head injury and concussion - NHS