Shoulder Injury In College Football
LITERATURE REVIEW
It may only take a couple of seconds for a college football player’s career or season to be taken away from him. Hundreds of college football players get hurt every year; most are sidelined for just a couple of weeks. Some players, however, lose their entire season and even careers to just one injury. When a player is not able to play the entire season, they may lose their scholarship. Standing on a football field’s sideline with an injury is one of the worst feelings a player can have. Normally, teams only have one or two players who can start at a position. Knowing which positions get hurt the most would be useful, because a coach or manager then knows which positions he needs to draft or recruit to his team, so there are more than one or two players capable of playing the position. If for example, offensive running backs are the most prone to being injured, a coach can recruit and train …show more content…
more than one or two offensive running backs, since the starting backs will most likely become injured during a season. Also, another important aspect that a coach or manager needs to know. If a specific position is more prone to having a certain injury. If offensive linemen are more prone to sustaining knee injuries, coaches can train offensive lineman to block a defensive lineman from cut-blocking his knees. The trainer could also equip prophylactic knee braces to the lineman to prevent knee injuries that offensive linemen are most prone to.
This study focuses on injuries by players’ positions; injuries by players’ positions means what player, playing his position, gets hurt the most and what type of injury does each position most commonly receive. This study analyzes injury by position data to determine if there are specifics player-positions that sustain certain injuries more frequently. This study differs from previous work, because it is more specific to player-position and associated injuries, while earlier studies pertained more to specific injuries and only relating those to the individual positions. There are several scientific papers that are relevant to this study. Bradley and others (2008) is one of the studies and its focus was on knee injuries based on position. The study was based on 332 athletes from the National Football League in 2005. Their results showed that the most common over-all injury was a Medial Collateral Ligament (MCL) injury. This type of knee injury was commonly found in defensive line, offensive tight-ends, and offensive line positions. Knee surgery was most commonly performed on offensive running backs and defensive linebackers. A different study, by many of the same researchers involved with the Bradley and others (2008) paper, was done at the National Football League Combine in 2005.
Kaplan and others (2005) focused an shoulder injuries by position. The most common shoulder injury sustained by players was an Acromioclavicular Separation. The positions that were the most likely to sustain shoulder injuries were offensive quarterbacks and defensive backs. The positions that were the most likely to have surgery performed where defensive linebackers and offensive lineman.
Although not a study of collegiate football players, there was a 4-year high school study (Prager and others, 1989) done on injuries and positions. Prager and others (1989) evaluated which position had the highest injury rate and which injury was most frequently sustained in varsity football teams. Knee injuries were the most common among all team players. The positions that had the highest risk of injury were the offensive halfbacks, offensive tackles, defensive linebackers, and the offensive
guards.
Mihalik and others (2007) did a field study where they put accelerometers into 72 collegiate athletes’ helmets and recorded the impact of helmet to helmet contact between the years of 2005-2006. They discovered that offensive lineman sustained more impact than defensive lineman and defensive backs. Also, offensive backs and defensive linebackers sustained more impact than defensive lineman and defensive backs. The overall position that sustained the most head to head impact was an offensive running-back, because, an offensive running-back or full-back run straight into a gap between two offensive lineman. Normally when they do this, the backs, after getting a 4-5 yard head start, run straight into a defensive linebacker that is filling the gap between the two offensive linemen. The running-backs are doing this constantly throughout practice and games, which helps explain the overall outcome of this study. Two other studies offer more intriguing information; the studies of Meeuwisse and others (2000) and Albright and others (1994) supported that knee injuries were the most frequent and common injury in college and high school levels.
The overall Statement/Problem for this study is: in which position do college football players get hurt the most, and what types of injuries are sustained? This study will analyze injury data from two national databases of collegiate football players’ injuries, (Right Angle Sports , 2010; Greene, 2010), so there will be no control groups. There are some major constants; the Collegiate Conferences that are going to be analyzed are the Big 12, SEC, and the ACC. The hypothesis for this study is that specific injuries will be associated with the specific positions because of the nature of each position and how they are played. The Independent Variable is the type of position. The Dependent Variable is the quantity and type of injury each player in a specific position receives. Injury data from two national databases of collegiate football players’ injuries will be analyzed in this study, (Right Angle Sports , 2010; Greene, 2010). Although there are some studies that are relevant to this study, the majority of the epidemiology of football injuries is more based on concussions and the level or amount of fatalities there are each year. Guskiewicz and others (2000) was a study based on concussions and return-to-play rate, and if there were any relationships to astro turf vs. natural grass playing fields. Ramirez and others (2006) was a study that focused on which field type was better: astro turf or natural grass. The results of their study showed that astro turf has a higher risk of injury than natural grass. Meeuwisse and others (2000) and Albright and others (1994) documented that knee injuries were the most frequent and common injury in college and high school levels.
REFERENCES
Albright JP, Powell JW, Smith W, Martindale A, Crowely E, Monroe J, Miller R, Connolly J, Hill B, Miller D, Helwig D, Marshall J, (1994), Medial Collateral Ligament Knee Sprains in College Football: Brace Wear Preferences and Injury Risk; The American Journal of Sports Medicine, 22 (1) , 2-11, Retrieved from: http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/66768/2/10.1177_036354659402200102.pdf
Bradley J, Honkamp NJ, Jost P, West R, Norwig J, Kaplan LD,( 2008), Incidence and variance or knee injuries in elite college football players; American Journal of Orthopedics, 37(6) , 310-400, Retrieved from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18716695/
Greene, G. (2010). Retrieved July 2011, from Blue Book Sports : http://www.bluebooksports.com/college_injuries.asp
Guskiewicz K, Weaver N, Padua D, Garret W, (2000), Epidemiology of Concussion in Collegiate and High School Football Players; Sports Medicine Research Laboratory, 28 (5), 643-650, Retrieved from: http://www.csmfoundation.org/Guskiewicz_-_epidemiology_of_concussion_in_college_and_high_school_-_AJSM_2000.pdf
Kaplan LD, Flanigan D, Norwig J, Jost P, Bradley J, (2005), Prevalence and Variance of Shoulder Injuries in Elite Collegiate Football Players; American Journal of Sports Medicine, 33 (8) , 1142-114, Retrieved from: http://ajs.sagepub.com/content/33/8/1142.short
Meeuwisse W, Hagel B, Mohtadi N, Butterwick D, Gordon H, (2000), The Distribution of Injuries in Men 's Canada West University Football; American Journal of Sports Medicine, 22 (4) , 516-523, Retrieved from: http://dspace1.acs.ucalgary.ca/bitstream/1880/44396/3/Butterwick_1.pdf
Mihalik J, Bell D, Marshall S, Guskiewicz K, (2007), Measurement of Head Impacts in Collegiate Football Players: An investigation of Positional and Event-Type Differences; Department of Exercise and Sport Science, 61(6) , 1229-1235, Retrieved From: http://exss.unc.edu/research-and-laboratories/sports-medicine-research-laboratory/publications/
Prager B, Fitton W, Cahill B, Olson G, (1989), High school football injuries: A prospective study and pitfalls of data collection; American Journal of Sports Medicine, 17 (5) , 681-685, Retrieved from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2610285
Ramirez M, Schaffer K, Shen H, Kashani S, Kraus J, (2006), Injuries to High School Football Athletes in California; American Journal of Sports Medicine, 34(7) , 1147-1158, Retrieved from: http://sf-recpark.org/ftp/uploadedfiles/wcm_recpark/SPTF/Ramirezetal06.pdf
Right Angle Sports . (2010). Retrieved June (2011), from College Injury Report: http://www.collegeinjuryreport.com/
It may only take a couple of seconds for a college football player’s career or season to be taken away from him. Hundreds of college football players get hurt every year; most are sidelined for just a couple of weeks. Some players, however, lose their entire season and even careers to just one injury. When a player is not able to play the entire season, they may lose their scholarship. Standing on a football field’s sideline with an injury is one of the worst feelings a player can have. Normally, teams only have one or two players who can start at a position. Knowing which positions get hurt the most would be useful, because a coach or manager then knows which positions he needs to draft or recruit to his team, so there are more than one or two players capable of playing the position. If for example, offensive running backs are the most prone to being injured, a coach can recruit and train …show more content…
more than one or two offensive running backs, since the starting backs will most likely become injured during a season. Also, another important aspect that a coach or manager needs to know. If a specific position is more prone to having a certain injury. If offensive linemen are more prone to sustaining knee injuries, coaches can train offensive lineman to block a defensive lineman from cut-blocking his knees. The trainer could also equip prophylactic knee braces to the lineman to prevent knee injuries that offensive linemen are most prone to.
This study focuses on injuries by players’ positions; injuries by players’ positions means what player, playing his position, gets hurt the most and what type of injury does each position most commonly receive. This study analyzes injury by position data to determine if there are specifics player-positions that sustain certain injuries more frequently. This study differs from previous work, because it is more specific to player-position and associated injuries, while earlier studies pertained more to specific injuries and only relating those to the individual positions. There are several scientific papers that are relevant to this study. Bradley and others (2008) is one of the studies and its focus was on knee injuries based on position. The study was based on 332 athletes from the National Football League in 2005. Their results showed that the most common over-all injury was a Medial Collateral Ligament (MCL) injury. This type of knee injury was commonly found in defensive line, offensive tight-ends, and offensive line positions. Knee surgery was most commonly performed on offensive running backs and defensive linebackers. A different study, by many of the same researchers involved with the Bradley and others (2008) paper, was done at the National Football League Combine in 2005.
Kaplan and others (2005) focused an shoulder injuries by position. The most common shoulder injury sustained by players was an Acromioclavicular Separation. The positions that were the most likely to sustain shoulder injuries were offensive quarterbacks and defensive backs. The positions that were the most likely to have surgery performed where defensive linebackers and offensive lineman.
Although not a study of collegiate football players, there was a 4-year high school study (Prager and others, 1989) done on injuries and positions. Prager and others (1989) evaluated which position had the highest injury rate and which injury was most frequently sustained in varsity football teams. Knee injuries were the most common among all team players. The positions that had the highest risk of injury were the offensive halfbacks, offensive tackles, defensive linebackers, and the offensive
guards.
Mihalik and others (2007) did a field study where they put accelerometers into 72 collegiate athletes’ helmets and recorded the impact of helmet to helmet contact between the years of 2005-2006. They discovered that offensive lineman sustained more impact than defensive lineman and defensive backs. Also, offensive backs and defensive linebackers sustained more impact than defensive lineman and defensive backs. The overall position that sustained the most head to head impact was an offensive running-back, because, an offensive running-back or full-back run straight into a gap between two offensive lineman. Normally when they do this, the backs, after getting a 4-5 yard head start, run straight into a defensive linebacker that is filling the gap between the two offensive linemen. The running-backs are doing this constantly throughout practice and games, which helps explain the overall outcome of this study. Two other studies offer more intriguing information; the studies of Meeuwisse and others (2000) and Albright and others (1994) supported that knee injuries were the most frequent and common injury in college and high school levels.
The overall Statement/Problem for this study is: in which position do college football players get hurt the most, and what types of injuries are sustained? This study will analyze injury data from two national databases of collegiate football players’ injuries, (Right Angle Sports , 2010; Greene, 2010), so there will be no control groups. There are some major constants; the Collegiate Conferences that are going to be analyzed are the Big 12, SEC, and the ACC. The hypothesis for this study is that specific injuries will be associated with the specific positions because of the nature of each position and how they are played. The Independent Variable is the type of position. The Dependent Variable is the quantity and type of injury each player in a specific position receives. Injury data from two national databases of collegiate football players’ injuries will be analyzed in this study, (Right Angle Sports , 2010; Greene, 2010). Although there are some studies that are relevant to this study, the majority of the epidemiology of football injuries is more based on concussions and the level or amount of fatalities there are each year. Guskiewicz and others (2000) was a study based on concussions and return-to-play rate, and if there were any relationships to astro turf vs. natural grass playing fields. Ramirez and others (2006) was a study that focused on which field type was better: astro turf or natural grass. The results of their study showed that astro turf has a higher risk of injury than natural grass. Meeuwisse and others (2000) and Albright and others (1994) documented that knee injuries were the most frequent and common injury in college and high school levels.
REFERENCES
Albright JP, Powell JW, Smith W, Martindale A, Crowely E, Monroe J, Miller R, Connolly J, Hill B, Miller D, Helwig D, Marshall J, (1994), Medial Collateral Ligament Knee Sprains in College Football: Brace Wear Preferences and Injury Risk; The American Journal of Sports Medicine, 22 (1) , 2-11, Retrieved from: http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/66768/2/10.1177_036354659402200102.pdf
Bradley J, Honkamp NJ, Jost P, West R, Norwig J, Kaplan LD,( 2008), Incidence and variance or knee injuries in elite college football players; American Journal of Orthopedics, 37(6) , 310-400, Retrieved from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18716695/
Greene, G. (2010). Retrieved July 2011, from Blue Book Sports : http://www.bluebooksports.com/college_injuries.asp
Guskiewicz K, Weaver N, Padua D, Garret W, (2000), Epidemiology of Concussion in Collegiate and High School Football Players; Sports Medicine Research Laboratory, 28 (5), 643-650, Retrieved from: http://www.csmfoundation.org/Guskiewicz_-_epidemiology_of_concussion_in_college_and_high_school_-_AJSM_2000.pdf
Kaplan LD, Flanigan D, Norwig J, Jost P, Bradley J, (2005), Prevalence and Variance of Shoulder Injuries in Elite Collegiate Football Players; American Journal of Sports Medicine, 33 (8) , 1142-114, Retrieved from: http://ajs.sagepub.com/content/33/8/1142.short
Meeuwisse W, Hagel B, Mohtadi N, Butterwick D, Gordon H, (2000), The Distribution of Injuries in Men 's Canada West University Football; American Journal of Sports Medicine, 22 (4) , 516-523, Retrieved from: http://dspace1.acs.ucalgary.ca/bitstream/1880/44396/3/Butterwick_1.pdf
Mihalik J, Bell D, Marshall S, Guskiewicz K, (2007), Measurement of Head Impacts in Collegiate Football Players: An investigation of Positional and Event-Type Differences; Department of Exercise and Sport Science, 61(6) , 1229-1235, Retrieved From: http://exss.unc.edu/research-and-laboratories/sports-medicine-research-laboratory/publications/
Prager B, Fitton W, Cahill B, Olson G, (1989), High school football injuries: A prospective study and pitfalls of data collection; American Journal of Sports Medicine, 17 (5) , 681-685, Retrieved from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2610285
Ramirez M, Schaffer K, Shen H, Kashani S, Kraus J, (2006), Injuries to High School Football Athletes in California; American Journal of Sports Medicine, 34(7) , 1147-1158, Retrieved from: http://sf-recpark.org/ftp/uploadedfiles/wcm_recpark/SPTF/Ramirezetal06.pdf
Right Angle Sports . (2010). Retrieved June (2011), from College Injury Report: http://www.collegeinjuryreport.com/