Injury Rates in Iranian Handball Players

Handball is a fast growing sport in Asian. The consequences of playing handball such as recurrent collisions with other players during the game usually cause injuries to the players. The present study is an attempt to consider the incidence of injuries and the conditions under which Iranian handball player injured in the 2008-2009 league season using video analysis. In general, 105 injuries were observed during these competitions. The incidence of injuries was found to be 164.5 per 1000 hours of competition. The results of the study showed that the rate of injuries was higher in the visiting teams (57.1%) than the host teams (42.9%). Also the results of analyses showed that handball players in the attack phase experienced more injuries (59%) than those in the defense phase (41%), however, the difference was not statistically significant (X =0.467, 2 P<0.05). Based on the results, most of the injuries happen in the last 10 minutes in the second half of the game (23 injuries, 21.9%). The results also showed that there is statistically no significant difference in the rate of injuries in different weeks (X2-1.980, P<0.05), But the rate of injuries in the beginning and ending weeks is higher in comparison with the middle weeks. Concerning the rate of injuries in the 9 zones or specified areas, the results showed that the highest rate of injuries happened in part 8 (36.2%) and part 2 (17.1%) in the host and visiting teams. The difference between the incidence of injuries in different parts of the playing field was statistically significant (X -69.705, P>0.05). This information is important because it prepares the ground for 2 designing and implementing preventive measures.