Introduction
One common characteristic of most team sports such as American football, rugby, soccer and ice hockey is that they often involve a high level of physical and sometimes aggressive contact. This in fact is the main difference between these and other non contact sports such as basketball, netball, volley ball, etc. which involve much less contact.
In studies that focus on the motivation and emotion involved in contact sports, it has been reported that much of the pleasure associated with these sports lies in the aggression involved in the physical aspect. Within such sports it is unlikely to see a player receive punitive action for aggressive response such as a hard tackle or a strong body check and aggressive physical plays form a key aspect of these games (Kerr 1999, Page 115).
Research on the motives and emotion in sport indicate most researchers agree that the violence that characterizes most contact sports is not the same as what is typically understood of aggression outside of sport. In the context of sport aggression is mainly aimed at expressing dominance over opponents.
Within the rules of the games there are often means to check unsporting conduct when it occurs during play. However, despite of the existence of such safety measures it goes without saying that the risks inherent in contact sports can not be compared with those of non contact sports. In non contact sports the greatest risk is often losing the match or failing to complete the task where as in the case of contact sports a real risk of injury exists (Kerr 1999, Page 120).
Another major concern and common cause of decline among top sporting personalities can be associated with stress. Taking the case of George Best, the English soccer star of the 70’s, we have a clear case of stress related decline. It is reported that after having a brilliant career with his team Manchester United, Best suffered from depression, alcoholism and had legal issues leading to his eventual exit from the sport.
Among the reasons cited for this behavior included stress of not being able to perform after the club failed to sustain the high performing squad it once had enlisted. In other cases the sports men and women faced with pressure to produce favorable results resort to use of performance enhancing drugs or other recreational drugs to relieve the associated pressure (Kerr 1999, Page 155).
In this paper the discussion will provide some information on stress and injury in sport with a view to providing the reader with the sports men and women’s perspective.
Definition of Stress
The term stress is widely used and refers to any factor whether internal or external that makes the adaptation to an environment difficult. In addition to the increased complexity in the environment of an individual this phenomena causes increase in effort to maintain the equilibrium with the external environment (Humphrey, Yow and Bowden 2000, Page 2).
Stress results owing to several contributing factors which in some instances may cause confusion owing to the close relationship between these factors. One of the factors is tension which may be taken to mean unnecessary or exaggerated muscle activity. Tension is a spontaneous reaction resulting from the dominant mental condition that may result in stress. Emotion is factor that may be confused with stress and refers to an individual’s reaction to external stimuli.
Another factor that is often confused with stress is anxiety, which refers to uneasiness of the mind. It may be assumed that anxiety is the source of stress. Another factor that may lead to stress is depression which refers to an intense feeling of sadness in an individual (Humphrey, Yow and Bowden 2000, Page 3-4).
Although individuals react differently to stress there are a few common physiological reactions. For example, an increase in the heart rate, increased perspiration, increase in blood pressure, dilation of pupils, knotting of the stomach, difficulty in swallowing and a tight feeling in the chest.
Professional sports careers are often very demanding on the athletes involved and are a cause of increased stress in the lives of these athletes. It is interesting to note that in some sports such as American Football increased risk of cardiovascular disease that is often associated with stress was reported to have other causes such as large body size and obesity (Selden, Helzberg & Waeckerle 2009, Page 812).
Potential Causes of Injury in Sport
In addition to the possibility of injury that is inherent with sports, stress is also likely to increase the possibility of injury for the athlete. In the recent past there has been a lot of research on the relationship between bone health and exercise.
This research was found to be important owing to the implications of falling victim to a stress fracture on the running career of a young athlete. Data from track athletes indicated that stress related bone injuries comprise between 11% and 21% of all bone injuries in athletics. In addition to this it was also reported that women are especially at a higher risk of experiencing stress related bone injuries.
Among the reasons provided for this include low bone mineral density, menstrual irregularities, dietary factors and prior history of similar injuries. Prevention of such injury can be achieved through maximizing peak bone mass at a young age. In addition to this it is important to maintain adequate calcium based nutrition, proper caloric intake and an optimal balance of hormones and energy (Nattiv 2000, Page 1).
Although the prevalence of stress fractures is high among female athletes’ they also occur among male athletes. It has been reported that among player of Australian Rules football 5% of injuries were stress fractures. This data implies that stress fractures are a more common injury in the sport than groin injuries, dislocation of shoulders and knee injuries. Additional data indicated that the number of games missed as a result of these injuries has been on the rise from 28 in 1995, 66 in 1996 to 83 in 1997.
Furthermore this type of injury was not confined to professional athletes only but also affected amateur athletes’ where 4% of the injuries reported were stress related fractures. It has been suggested that the increase may be attributed to the increases in training load and in particular running training. Most clubs within these leagues have increased pre season cross training to reduce the incidences of the injuries (Brukner & Bennel 1999, Page 1).
The main cause of these injuries is overuse. An injury based on overuse involves certain muscles or bones of the body and develops over a period of time as a result of too much repetitive activity. The nature of the exercises associated with sports has the ability to cause such injuries. The repeated drills and routines that athletes’ are bound to go through on a regular basis are possible triggers. The injury gradually deteriorates over time until corrective therapy is applied (Hodson 1999, Page 1).
This case is evident in young footballers with load, posture, technique and equipment featuring as the main causative factors. It is currently the norm to develop sporting talent at a young age and many adolescents are recruited as potential candidates in sport training facilities.
These adolescents are encouraged to train and play more especially when considered to be gifted in a particular discipline. This induction at an early age without proper training may be the source of such injuries in the future of a player. It has been reported that children experience growth spurts from the ages of 7 to 18 years.
For those children engaged actively in sport at young ages their bodies develop muscle at a faster rate than skeletal development. Factors such as the incomplete development of bone tissue, reduced flexibility attributable to growth spurts are all potential causes for injury. It is reported that fast growing children are at a greater risk than those who grow slowly (Hodson 1999, Page 3).
The data from this report suggests that coaching staff need to be provided with adequate training on the physical aspects related to growth and integrate these into their training regimen. In addition to this the coaching staffs also need training to spot symptoms early and avoid serious injuries occurring within their teams.
Injuries in sport are not entirely isolated to stress and some are the result of contact that characterizes the games. It has been reported that in the game of soccer there is a risk of 13 to 35 injuries per 1000 hours of play. After the thigh, the feet and ankles have the greatest potential for injury in soccer with a potential incidence of 39 injuries per 1000 hours of play. The most common cause of this type of injury (ankle or foot injury) has been reported to be direct contact especially during tackling.
It was also reported that there is a higher incidence of injury during competition than during training which has been attributed to the increased speed of play. Other potential causes of foot and ankle injuries in soccer include hard ground, resumption of training after a break, poor footwear and increased intensity of training and running. This suggests that attention should be paid to these areas to limit the number and prevalence of such injuries among soccer players (Oztekin, Boya, Ozcan, and Zeren & Pinar 2009, Page 22).
Other than bone injuries athletes also suffer from a number of muscle injuries during games. It has been reported that over the past two decades injury trends have changed within the elite soccer circles with hamstring injuries becoming the most prevalent. In the English Premier League these injuries accounted for almost 12% of all reported injuries during a season. In addition to a high prevalence hamstring injuries have a very high rate of recurrence when there is premature return to play or inadequate rehabilitation programs.
It goes without saying that injury to key players can result in reduced performance and eventually have a negative impact of financial well being of the player and team.
As a result of this research has been carried out to identify high risk groups and prepare appropriate remedial actions for these groups. The research indicated that older players were more susceptible to hamstring injuries and as such their training required exercises to allow them adapt e.g. flexibility exercises. In addition to this it was found that screening may be useful within clubs to identify potential targets and adjust the training accordingly (Henderson, Barnes & Portas 2010, Page 397).
References
Brukner, P. & Bennel, K. (1999). Stress Fractures and Football. Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, 2(1), 33.
Harry, J. H., Yow, D. A. & Bowden, W. W. (2000). Stress In College Athletics: Causes, Consequences and Coping. Binghamton, NY: Harworth Press Inc.
Henderson, G., Barnes, C. A. & Portas, M. D. (2010). Factors Associated with Increased Propensity of Hamstring Injury in English Premier League Soccer Players. Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, 13, 397-402.
Hodson, A. (1999). Too Much Too Soon? The Risk of Overuse in Young Football Players. Journal of Bodywork & Movement Therapies, 3(2), 85-91.
Kerr, J. H. (1999). Motivation and Emotion in Sport: Reversal Theory. Psychology Press.
Nattiv, A. (2000). Stress Fractures and Bone Health in Track and Field Athletes. Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, 3(3), 268-279.
Oztekin, H. H., Boya, H., Ozcan, O., Zeren, B. & Pinar, P. (2009). Foot and Ankle Injuries and Time Lost From Play in Professional Soccer Players. The Foot, 19, 22-28.
Selden, M. A.., Helzberg, J. H. & Waeckerle, J. F. (2009). Early Cardiovascular Mortality in Professional Football Players: Fact or Fiction? The American Journal of Medicine, 122(9), 811-814.