Training volume and injury incidence in a professional rugby union team

dc.contributor.authorViljoen, Wayne
dc.contributor.authorSaunders, Colleen J
dc.contributor.authorHechter, Greg D
dc.contributor.authorAginsky, Kerith D
dc.contributor.authorMillson, Helen B
dc.date.accessioned2017-06-23T09:48:13Z
dc.date.available2017-06-23T09:48:13Z
dc.date.issued2009
dc.date.updated2016-01-22T09:35:09Z
dc.description.abstractObjective. To describe the incidence of injuries in a professional rugby team, and to identify any associations between injury rates and training volume. Methods. This retrospective, descriptive study included all injuries diagnosed as grade 1 and above in a South African Super 12 rugby team. Injury incidence and injury rates were calculated and compared with training volume and hours of match play. Results. Thirty-eight male rugby players were injured during the study period. The total number of annual injuries decreased from 50 (2002) to 38 (2004) (χ2=0.84, p=0.36). The number of new injuries showed a similar trend (χ2=2.81, p=0.09), while the number of recurring injuries increased over the 3-year period. There was a tendency for total in-season injury rates to decrease over the 3 years (χ2=2.89, p=0.09). The pre-season injury rate increased significantly over the 3 years (χ2=12.7, p<0.01), coupled with a reduction in training exposure over the pre-season phase. Conclusions. One has to be cognisant of the balance between performance improvement and injury risk when designing training programmes for elite rugby players. Although the reduction in training volume was associated with a slight reduction in the number of acute injuries and in-season injury rates over the three seasons, the performance of the team changed from 3rd to 7th (2002 and 2004, respectively). Further studies are required to determine the optimal training necessary to improve rugby performance while reducing injury rates.
dc.identifier.apacitationViljoen, W., Saunders, C. J., Hechter, G. D., Aginsky, K. D., & Millson, H. B. (2009). Training volume and injury incidence in a professional rugby union team. <i>South African Journal of Sport Medicine</i>, http://hdl.handle.net/11427/24622en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationViljoen, Wayne, Colleen J Saunders, Greg D Hechter, Kerith D Aginsky, and Helen B Millson "Training volume and injury incidence in a professional rugby union team." <i>South African Journal of Sport Medicine</i> (2009) http://hdl.handle.net/11427/24622en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationViljoen, W., Saunders, C. J., Hechter, G. D., Aginsky, K. D., & Millson, H. B. (2009). Training volume and injury incidence in a professional rugby union team. South African Journal of Sports Medicine, 21(3).
dc.identifier.ris TY - Journal Article AU - Viljoen, Wayne AU - Saunders, Colleen J AU - Hechter, Greg D AU - Aginsky, Kerith D AU - Millson, Helen B AB - Objective. To describe the incidence of injuries in a professional rugby team, and to identify any associations between injury rates and training volume. Methods. This retrospective, descriptive study included all injuries diagnosed as grade 1 and above in a South African Super 12 rugby team. Injury incidence and injury rates were calculated and compared with training volume and hours of match play. Results. Thirty-eight male rugby players were injured during the study period. The total number of annual injuries decreased from 50 (2002) to 38 (2004) (χ2=0.84, p=0.36). The number of new injuries showed a similar trend (χ2=2.81, p=0.09), while the number of recurring injuries increased over the 3-year period. There was a tendency for total in-season injury rates to decrease over the 3 years (χ2=2.89, p=0.09). The pre-season injury rate increased significantly over the 3 years (χ2=12.7, p<0.01), coupled with a reduction in training exposure over the pre-season phase. Conclusions. One has to be cognisant of the balance between performance improvement and injury risk when designing training programmes for elite rugby players. Although the reduction in training volume was associated with a slight reduction in the number of acute injuries and in-season injury rates over the three seasons, the performance of the team changed from 3rd to 7th (2002 and 2004, respectively). Further studies are required to determine the optimal training necessary to improve rugby performance while reducing injury rates. DA - 2009 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town J1 - South African Journal of Sport Medicine LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2009 T1 - Training volume and injury incidence in a professional rugby union team TI - Training volume and injury incidence in a professional rugby union team UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/24622 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/24622
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationViljoen W, Saunders CJ, Hechter GD, Aginsky KD, Millson HB. Training volume and injury incidence in a professional rugby union team. South African Journal of Sport Medicine. 2009; http://hdl.handle.net/11427/24622.en_ZA
dc.language.isoeng
dc.publisher.departmentMRC/UCT RU for Exercise and Sport Medicineen_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Health Sciencesen_ZA
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.sourceSouth African Journal of Sport Medicine
dc.source.urihttp://journals.assaf.org.za/index.php/sajsm
dc.titleTraining volume and injury incidence in a professional rugby union team
dc.typeJournal Articleen_ZA
uct.type.filetypeText
uct.type.filetypeImage
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourceArticleen_ZA
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