Epidemiology of musculoskeletal injuries of professional basketball players in a tournament bubble

Abstract

There has been a lot of epidemiological studies on musculoskeletal injuries across various sports, during a complete season. However, no epidemiological study yet has looked into a shortened tournament “bubble”. This study aimed to identify the most common injuries which occurred during the said bubble. Nine out of the twelve team representatives (sports medicine staff) were able to answer the NCAA-ISS surveillance form. A total of twenty-six injured players were listed (mean age 30.11; average playing years 5.8), with twenty-two listed as new occurrences. Seventeen of the total injuries were non-contact. Muscular strains were the most common type of injury with thirteen, majority of which occurred during practices. According to the sports medicine representatives, the common reasons for the injury occurrences were: Lack of Preparation (from the time they started online trainings until they entered the bubble for the regular season), Lack of Recovery (tight game and practice schedules), and Accidental. The authors recommend a longer off-season preparation which would include earlier opportunities to do team practices, including scrimmages. The earlier, more periodized preparation might off-set if there would be any sudden adjustments in the schedule of games as well as practices.