Free Health Dissertations - In Addition To The Main-stream Elite Basket Ball Player We Have Also Looked
In addition to the main-stream elite basket ball player we have also looked at the role of the physiotherapist in the role of helping the disabled basketball player, some of whom have achieved elite status in their own right. They have their own specific problems and these are reviewed and discussed.
Lastly we look at the specific gender differences in the sport. With many women finding that the sport is attractive, they participate at a top level of achievement. We look at the reasons why they have a different injury profile to men, both in terms of numbers of injuries but also in terms of the frequency of specific types of injury. The mechanisms of this difference is discussed together with the means whereby it can be addressed.
Introduction
Basketball is a world-wide sport practised by children in their backyard, adolescents in their playground, amateurs in their league games and elite athletes in their world-stage arenas. It is by any standards a fast game with inevitable physical contact, both intentional and accidental. Both these factors lead to the potential for injury. The explosive effort for the fast moves leads to a particular pattern of muscle, ligament and tendon injury (see on) and the physical contact can lead to bruises, dislocations, fractures and other injuries. It is a sport that is enjoyed by both sexes. Although it was originally conceived primarily as a male sport (for the YMCA) in an era when female participation in sport was a rarity, women now participate in it to elite levels and suffer injury to a similar extent to their male counterparts.
The game itself has evolved dramatically since its humble beginnings when Dr James Naismith nailed two peach baskets at the ends of his gymnasium in 1891 (hence the name basketball) It was developed as a tool for fitness training by the YMCA. By 1927 The Harlem Globetrotters had been formed and by 1936 it was included as an Olympic sport. According to FIBA (Basketball governing body) over 400 million people play basketball on a world-wide basis
Training for the fitness needed to play the sport can also lead to its own problems. One huge study by Urho M Kujala et al. (1994) (1) found that of all the injuries associated with basketball, 50% occurred during the matches and 50% occurred during training for the matches. This should be contrasted with the finding in study by Meeuwisse et al. (2) where injuries during the game were 3.7 times as likely to occur as in training. One could reasonably conclude that a large proportion of the injuries sustained in the cut and thrust of a full scale match are part of the risk package accepted in playing the game.
Dissertations - Free Health Dissertations
