1. UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA
VOLLEYBALL INJURIES BY THE NUMBERS
What is Most Common:
Lower Extremity (~50 %) > Upper Extremity (~20%)
Ankle Injuries, Soft Tissue Strains, Internal Knee Injuries
Overuse Injuries common in clinic
 under reported in NCAA studies because only accounted for injuries which caused training time to be lost
When Injuries Happen:
Contact injuries during games, non-contact injuries during practices
Majority occur during preseason or return from a break
 periods where workload has not been monitored or is increasing in a short period of time
*Based on NCAA Injury Surveillance System’s data collection*

2. UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA
LOAD MONITORING AND VOLLEYBALL
Load Monitoring in the Literature
Well established in field sports
Successful mitigation of drastic changes in load
 Preseason, following breaks, etc
Volleyball Presents a Unique Challenge
Traditionally, big systems monitor mileage, minutes played, etc
Not a ton of research on volleyball
Most of the data is on ADULT athletes
Not quite applicable!

3. UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA
LONGTERM LOAD MANAGEMENT IN PRACTICE
The Problem:
Youth Baseball (9-14 yrs old)  Significant spike in overuse injuries
26-35% of pitchers experience shoulder or elbow pain each year
5% incidence in serious injury requiring surgery or retirement
Most common in athletes who play multiple seasons
The Intervention:
2007 Little League Recommendations
Based on research by USA Baseball Medical & Safety Advisory committee (USAB-MSA)
Age-based pitch count restrictions (per game, week, season, year)
Amount of rest required before a pitcher can throw again
The Results:
Still in the works…but the preliminary studies seem promising
**BASEBALL IS A “non traditional” monitoring sport (like VB)
10 yr study looking at 9-14 yr olds 5% surgery/retirement
USAB-MSA includes baseball experts, coaches, ortho surgeons
**Similar pitch count and rest recommendations seen in high school (formerly inning restrictions)
Stiil too soon to tell a lot because took some time to gain traction and increase coach/player compliance

4. UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA
TARGETS FOR THE RADAR
Overuse injuries are an overlooked, but COMMON issue
2. There’s a lot out there about monitoring, BUT it is might not entirely translate to volleyball
3. Perhaps simple solutions can be useful for monitoring athletes
**Baseball is “non traditional” monitoring sport (like VB), using a simple intervention (pitch count) to make it widespread
10 yr study looking at 9-14 yr olds 5% surgery/retirement
USAB-MSA includes baseball experts, coaches, ortho surgeons
**Similar pitch count and rest recommendations seen in high school (formerly inning restrictions)
Stiil too soon to tell a lot because took some time to gain traction and increase coach/player compliance