Although volleyball is a non-contact sport, it is a physically demanding game, and players still sustain injuries. According to Maelynn Moore, ATC, a Nebraska Medicine Athletic Trainer and Head Athletic Trainer for LOVB Omaha, the five most common injuries providers at Nebraska Medicine see in volleyball players are:
· Back injuries
· Acute ankle injuries
· Shoulder injuries
· Abdominal strains
· Patellar tendonitis
Luckily, the Sports Medicine team at Nebraska Medicine is well-equipped to help a volleyball player – or any other athlete – suffering from one or more of these injuries.
Back injuries
“We see a lot of back issues in general, but specifically, a lot of chronic back injuries,” says Moore. Because volleyball players are in extension frequently while hitting, setting or blocking, their lumbar spine often extends, opening them up to the risk of chronic back issues.
“These repeated motions result in us seeing these chronic back injuries frequently in volleyball players,” says Moore. Providers focus on improving the athlete’s core stabilization when treating such chronic back issues.
“Improving core stabilization is important to boosting your lumbar range of motion,” says Moore. “So, we try to increase range of motion while also optimizing hamstring stabilization to ensure their lower back isn’t affected either.”
Acute ankle injuries
“We also see many acute ankle sprains, especially for players around the net,” says Moore. “For example, if someone lands on another player’s foot, we’ll see a lot of lateral ankle sprains and other similar acute ankle injuries.”
To try and prevent such injuries, many volleyball teams do prehabilitation or tape and/or brace players' ankles. However, some recent studies have shown these wraps and braces can actually hinder your ankle's strength in specific ways because you reduce the ankle's range of motion significantly, especially if you wear it a lot over time.
“My personal philosophy would be to do more preventative exercises, stretching and strengthening your ankle,” says Moore. “So, if you’re in a situation where you might roll your ankle, hopefully, the muscles in your ankle are strong enough to keep you healthy enough to return to play normally.”
According to Moore, if you’re explicitly coming back from an ankle injury, it makes more sense to tape or brace your ankle.
Shoulder injuries
Volleyball players also frequently experience shoulder injuries. “General shoulder injuries are most common, whether that’s an impingement or biceps tendonitis,” says Moore. “To prevent these injuries, we really try to ensure our athletes properly warm up before playing.”
Volleyball players looking to avoid shoulder injuries can incorporate a band routine or another similar warm-up to ensure they’re correctly activating their arms and shoulders before they really get into hitting or swinging like they would in-game.
“We can also do some preventative work for shoulder injuries, such as strengthening the rotator cuff muscles, so they have a stable shoulder joint and, hopefully, have fewer issues with it,” says Moore.
Abdominal strains
An abdominal strain is also quite common in volleyball because the hitting motion is so unique. Essentially, the abdomen on the opposite side of the hitting arm can strain because that’s the part of the body contracting.
“So, we’ll see these injuries, especially with our hitters, and it’s typically an acute injury,” says Moore. “After confirming an abdominal strain, treating these injuries involves slowly progressing athletes back to hitting and not just throwing them into play.”
Exercises designed to build an athlete back up to hitting are key because they can easily reaggravate the abdominal injury, and hitting is such a heavy abdominal contraction motion. "We try to use activities like hitting off of a box without jumping to reproduce that motion in the rehab process, without fully swinging," says Moore.
Patellar tendonitis
Patellar tendonitis is another common volleyball injury because of the amount of jumping players do during practice and games. “All of this jumping places a significant load throughout the entire body,” says Moore. “But it’s an issue you can be preventative about as well.”
Exercises to strengthen muscles around your knees, like your quads and hamstrings, and other muscles around it that connect to the hip are crucial to preventing patellar tendonitis. “Mobility training is also vital to ensure your landing mechanics are okay,” says Moore. “Working on each of these aspects of jumping will put you in a good spot for preventing patellar tendonitis.”
Importance of warming up and prehabilitation for volleyball players
Preventative exercises like using a proper warm-up or a specific prehabilitation workout are particularly crucial for volleyball players because of the chronic nature of most volleyball injuries.
“Over my career, I’ve seen a lot more chronic injuries and issues in volleyball than acute injuries,” says Moore. “Especially with chronic back, knee and shoulder injuries.”
No matter your injury or sport, the Sports Medicine team at Nebraska Medicine can help. As the official team medical provider for LOVB Omaha Volleyball, this medical team has the necessary experience to diagnose, treat, and help prevent your volleyball-related injury.
Call 800.922.0000 to make an appointment with the Sports Medicine team today.
