Identifying the types, causes and mechanisms of common injuries in semi-professional handball players aged 17 to 20 years with an emphasis on the post game.

Dissertation for receiving a master's degree (M.A)

Direction:

Sports biomechanics

Abstract:

Injury is considered a destructive factor in the success of the athlete, and identifying the injury helps to prevent and reduce it. does Handball is a popular sport and is always associated with the phenomenon of injury. The purpose of this research was to identify the types, causes and mechanisms of common injuries in semi-professional handball players aged 17 to 20 years with an emphasis on the post game. The research samples consisted of 103 people (53 boys and 50 girls) of young handball players aged 17 to 20, who were randomly selected from among the available handball sports clubs in Tehran province. To collect information, a questionnaire containing two parts, personal information (age, height, weight and activity history) and standard injury report taken from Australian sports medicine was used. Descriptive statistics of mean, standard deviation, frequency and percentage of frequency and inferential statistics were used to describe the data in order to determine the significant difference between the type, causes and mechanism of injury in different positions. The results showed that the highest prevalence of injuries in boys and girls in different positions of the game is muscle-tendon and joint injuries, while bone and skin injuries were ranked next. The most vulnerable part of the upper limb of boys in muscle-tendon injuries was the shoulder, fingers, palm and arm, and in girls, the shoulder, shoulder, and elbow. The most vulnerable part of the lower limb of boys and girls in muscle-tendon injuries was the ankle, then the knee and patella. Excessive continuous pressure, the most frequent cause of injury in different positions, and direct impact and excessive use of a member were identified as the most damaging mechanisms in boys and girls. 1.1. Introduction

Health is an important pillar in a person's life. Inventions and the increasing use of technology in daily life have brought more harmful negative aspects with them, such as inactivity, comfort seeking, and the spread of cardiovascular diseases, nervous disorders, obesity, blood pressure, depression, etc. It is one of them. In order to avoid laziness and inactivity, the benefit of sports has been proposed in various dimensions, and the movement of popularizing sports has been the fastest growing and common treatment of the problem of inactivity of all humans, and sports has become an essential factor in maintaining relative health.

Besides all the benefits and improvements that can be imagined for sports and physical training, the phenomenon of damage due to the complexity of the structure and functioning of the tissues and organs of the body has been associated with it (Malek). Mohammadi, 1389). Today, injury has become a worrying issue for athletes, because injury has direct effects on the performance of athletes, and even an injured athlete after treatment is susceptible to subsequent injuries or repetition of the same injury, and worrying about this issue leads to a decrease in motivation and desire to continue sports activities and competitions (Heidari, 2016). Correct and timely identification is very important to prevent injuries. In this research, an attempt was made to identify the types, causes and mechanisms of injuries in semi-professional handball players aged 17 to 20.

2.1. Statement of the problem

Injury is considered a potential threat in sports, which unfortunately cannot be avoided. We are living in an era where the interest in sports among young people has never been so high and sports injuries have also increased in proportion to the increase in interest (Ramazani, 2012).  According to the available statistics, out of every 100 athletes, 80 people get injured in various competitions, which is a sign for participation in sports, especially at the competitive level. One of the consequences of injury is the decrease in the quality of athletes' performance, which can have a negative effect on the spirit of young athletes, preventing them from continuing sports and seeing them far from achieving their sports dreams (Pour Haider Shirazi, 2013). Young and talented athletes, who are considered as sports assets, can be a source of national pride for the country in the not-too-distant future in international arenas.Therefore, any injury that occurs due to ignorance of the principles of training and movements, can change the path of the athlete and keep him away from the sports scene.

The more coaches and athletes are aware of the types of injuries common in their specific sport and how these injuries occur (injury mechanism), the more likely they will be able to prevent most injuries. Also, based on Van Mitchelsen et al.'s (2005) theory, a careful analysis of the causes of injuries and dangerous factors for health is the basis of preventive programs (Bergeron and Green, 2011).

Sports medicine is considered one of the sub-branches of sports sciences that has made tremendous progress and has provided great help in solving the injury problem. The fields related to sports medicine include such things as preparation, proper exercises, injury prevention, rehabilitation and returning the athlete to the scene of sports activities (Danishmandi et al., 2013). Handball is a dynamic and exciting sport. In this sport, normal sports skills such as running, jumping, throwing and catching the ball are used. In this sport, speed and agility and nerve and muscle coordination are key factors in being superior and a lot of physical contact is created (Najati, 2015). Due to the way that is common in the game of handball in attack and defense, it is considered a violent sport. Lack of awareness of the correct implementation of skills and lack of sufficient physical preparation in this high-impact sport can lead a person to unfortunate injuries. The existence of injuries in this discipline, due to the physical collisions of the ball hitting the player or the player falling to the ground, threatens the health of handball athletes (Radfar, 2009). In this research, an attempt was made to answer the question, what are the types, causes and mechanisms of common injuries in semi-professional handball players aged 17 to 20 years old in Tehran province, with an emphasis on the post game?

3.1. The importance and necessity of research

The growing development and expansion of sports and the increase of competitions and regular participation in physical activities have increased the existence of physical injuries in sports, especially at the level of championship sports. These injuries cause the loss of the athlete's health and well-being and in some cases force a young athlete to leave sports activities forever. Therefore, paying attention to sports injuries is very important (Jalali, 2014). Injuries and damage in different sports are not predictable and in competitive sports, the occurrence of injuries from minor and mild to severe is undeniable (Malek Mohammadi, 2009). The hard-working presence of athletes on the one hand and the lack of awareness of coaches and athletes about the scientific principles of exercises and the weakness in adopting preventive methods to reduce injuries on the other hand have caused irreparable damage to the future of athletes and the country's sports community (Qarakhanlou, 2010). These factors make it important to identify the type, causes and mechanisms of injuries. Handball is a popular sport. Since the sport of handball is always associated with the phenomenon of injury due to the high mobility of the players during the game, and the occurrence of injury is considered a destructive factor in the athlete's success, and also by reviewing the studies, no coherent research has been done regarding the injuries of this field, so identifying the causes and mechanism of injury is important in order to prevent injury and reduce injury.

Abstract

The purpose of this research was investigation of type, reasons and mechanism of common injuries among semi-professional male and female handball players of 17-20 years old considering their post. The sampling of the study consisted of the total number of 103 (53 males and 50 females) young handball players of 17-20 years old. Which were randomly selected from the handball gyms in Tehran. For the collection of data a questionnaire including the individuals personal information (age, height, weight and playing records) and the standardized questionnaire of injury report of Australia's sports medicine were used. For data analysis interpretive methods including mean standard deviation frequency and frequency percentage were used. Also a T-test was conducted in order to set the mean in full difference type and reasons of injuries in different posts.