Epidemiology of injuries in racket sports: a cross-sectional study of specific injuries within one olympic cycle

A total of 390 (55%) athletes have suffered a serious injury. There were more injuries during training than competition. 78% of the three most common injuries in the various racket sports involved the lower extremities. The longest injury time loss was seen in Tennis for an unspecified injury of the shoulder (16±12 weeks), in Badminton for the foot-ligament injury (13±14 weeks) and the meniscus injury of the knee in table tennis (13±10 weeks). The injuries to the knee accounted for the highest number of athletes with a reduced level of performance (Badminton: Knee - unspecified injury: reduced level=64%; Table tennis: Knee - meniscus injury: reduced level=54%) CONCLUSION: Although recognized as one entity of racket sports with some similar trends in terms of injuries, there are some relevant differences in injury type, circumstances and consequences, which should be considered in future sport-specific injury prevention strategies.