byAlma Abell

If you have ever been seeking a medical clinic; or, even an alternate medicine such as chiropractic clinic; you might have noticed how often the treatment of “sports injuries” is included in their portfolio. You might even conclude that playing sports is inherently dangerous – even golfers appear to suffer from golf induced back and joint problems and, not as you might think, being hit by a flying golf ball.

Because of their high public profile; football player injuries receive a lot of publicity; but, again, not as you might think from heavy body contact injuries; far more common are foot, ankle, hamstring, knee and leg injuries of many types. Our bodies are fairly well designed for walking along at a comfortable pace while taking care where we place our feet. Once we start to run; jump; leap about and make sudden stops or changes of direction we put additional strain on the joints within our feet and legs – particularly the ankles and knees and can easily strain muscles; tear tendons; or, do other internal injuries. In extreme cases; bone fractures are also possible.

Volleyball Is Not A Full Contact Sport

Players can get “excited” and accidentally collide with each other but this is not a common cause of injury in volleyball. Likewise, especially when playing indoors on a wooden floored court, accidental falls will occur from time to time. These collisions and falls may, sometimes, result in direct contact injury such as bruising; but a bigger risk is, again, to the leg bones and joints.

Volleyball Protection

The chances of you being seriously hit in the face by a fast moving ball are considered slim; so protective headgear is not part of volleyball equipment. Beach players usually play barefoot; but an indoor player will need shoes and these should be specifically designed so as to give the best support and grip for the movements the wearer is likely to make during a game.

To lessen the blow when falling accidentally; or deliberately going down on a knee to get at your shot; most indoor players will wear protective knee or elbow pads. Some may even wear a support wrapped around the knee (often in the form of a nylon reinforced; sponge neoprene sleeve) to reduce the risk of moving the knee beyond its limits. For similar reasons; many players choose to protect their ankles with special Volleyball Ankle Braces which, in their simplest form are similar to the knee wraps. For players with weaker ankles; or, with past ankle damage; Volleyball Ankle Braces are also available in an engineered version; made of plastic or light weight metal with hinges for limited movement. These braces are, effectively, an artificial, external ankle joint with a prescribed limitation on its movement; so as to take the strain away from the wearer’s natural ankle.

For basic elasticized wrap around; through to stirrup style hinged Volleyball Ankle Braces you should take a look at what is on offer from the on line store of realvolleyball.com.