Sporting organisations are turning to research to help prevent sports injuries for athletes that occur either during a game or in training.
Australian statistics for sporting injuries has shown that recreational walking was an activity that helped prevent injury with 10.1 million participants in 2021/2022, compared to eight million people attending fitness regimes and going to the gym during the same period.
Basketball was the lowest form of physical activity in the top ten with 996,000 participants. However, it was still in the top three team sports only losing to soccer. The Ausplay survey involved 19.2 million Australians aged 15 years and over.
Examining the injury side of what can occur in the gym falls or falls involving an object combine to make 25 per cent of sports injury hospitalisations. This amounted to 14-100 people. Hospitalisations are classed as emergency admissions if the patient requires admission within 24 hours. About two-thirds of sports injury hospitalisations in 2021–22 were emergencies or 68 per cent.
In comparison basketball hospitalisations in a study by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) has shown that the most common injury were fractures with over 50 per cent involving breaks or 1324 out of 2400 hospital admissions.
Athletes mostly suffered fractures in their leg and hip region with 850 cases or making up 35 per cent of all sporting hospitialised cases.
Contact and a hard floor these injuries are difficult to avoid in most sports, such as basketball. However, they are still preventable. UniActive works on combatting possible basketball injuries with foam board surrounding the hall. These are able to cushion players if they are to clash with a wall during a match.
UniActive memberships coordinator Tomas Julian said if an injury occurs either on the courts, gym or field there are policies in place to deal with the issues, including first aid training for staff.
“Depending on the injury severity itself we’ve got first aiders on hand who can help initially assess the injury, if an ambulance needs to be called we’ll be able to call them to help out. If it is something minor like a twisted ankle, there can be an initial assessment on the injury and follow up if needed,” he said.
“On the gym floor itself if someone is new to the gym all members get an initial consultation with guidance on how to train correctly and how to use the machines properly.”
