Ways to classify

Sports injuries can be classified by the cause of the injury.

Direct injuries are caused by forces generated from outside the body.

Indirect injuries are caused by forces from within the body.

Over-use injuries result from excessive and repetitive force over extended periods of time. Sports injuries can also be classified by the tissue type damaged.

Hard- tissue injuries are those involving damage to the bones.

Soft-tissue injuries include damage to all tissue other than bones and teeth (e.g. muscle, tendons, ligaments, skin).

Direct and indirect

Direct injuries are those that are sustained through a direct external force causing injury at the point of contact with the injured player. The injury can be caused by another competitor or equipment – for example, a cricket batsman develops a bruise on their thigh after being struck by a bowled cricket ball.

Indirect injuries typically involve damage to soft tissues such as tendons, ligaments or muscles of the body through internal forces that exceed the normal function of the injured body part, thereby causing injury. Examples of this could be a sprinter straining their hamstring during the heavy push-off phase of sprinting, or a soccer player rolling their ankle, causing strain damage to the structures (ligaments

and tendons) of the lateral ankle.

Soft and hard tissue

Soft-tissue injuries are the most common injuries in sport. Soft tissue includes the muscles, tendons, ligaments, fascia, nerves, fibrous tissues, fat, blood vessels and synovial membranes. A soft-tissue injury is damage occurring to any of these areas – for example, the sprinter straining their hamstring or the soccer player rolling their ankle. Soft-tissue injuries can be acute (sudden) or chronic (prolonged).

Hard-tissue injuries describe damage to bone, teeth and cartilage – for example, a soccer player is kicked in the leg and breaks a bone.

Over-use

Over-use injuries develop due to overly repetitive or continuous tasks, incorrect techniques/ equipment or over-training. The loaded tissue cannot withstand the repetitive loads being placed upon it, so injury develops. For example, a tennis player develops tendonitis/inflammation in their elbow from practising too many backhands. Stress fractures are also over-use injuries.