TonyK
CibbuanoHead injuries decreasing
May 20th 2009 03:18
THE AFL's annual injury survey on Wednesday has revealed the the lowest rate of head and neck injuries since the survey first began 17 years ago.
AFL football operations manager Adrian Anderson said the decrease in head and neck injuries was due to recent law changes to the game.
"The No.1 thing, the most pleasing thing, is to see head and neck injuries at an all-time low. There is no doubt that this is a direct result of introducing rules to protect players from head and neck injuries," Anderson said.
"The main one is the rule to protect players with their head down over the ball and the other one is to protect players from head-high bumps."
"Those two rules have been instrumental in making sure that we have the lowest rate of head and neck injuries we've ever had."
However, it wasn't all good news with shoulder injuries increasing while hamstring injuries remain by far the most common injury in the AFL and show no sign of decreasing.
Anderson said the league would conduct research into why shoulder injuries were increasing after this year's grand final but ruled out any further changes to bumping laws meaning the hip and shoulder will remain a key feature of the sport.
Meanwhile, hamstring injuries - which at an average of 6.6 injuries per club last season account for more than double the next most common injury (groin at 3.2).
Anderson said one area the AFL would look at to reduce hamstring injuries is the use of the interchange bench.
"We are looking at the rate of the interchange (rotations) in recent years and whether that is a contributing factor to the higher rates of soft tissue injuries we are seeing," he said.
But he said there are no plans at this stage to put a cap on the number of interchange movies allowed by each club.
AFL football operations manager Adrian Anderson said the decrease in head and neck injuries was due to recent law changes to the game.
"The No.1 thing, the most pleasing thing, is to see head and neck injuries at an all-time low. There is no doubt that this is a direct result of introducing rules to protect players from head and neck injuries," Anderson said.
"The main one is the rule to protect players with their head down over the ball and the other one is to protect players from head-high bumps."
"Those two rules have been instrumental in making sure that we have the lowest rate of head and neck injuries we've ever had."
However, it wasn't all good news with shoulder injuries increasing while hamstring injuries remain by far the most common injury in the AFL and show no sign of decreasing.
Anderson said the league would conduct research into why shoulder injuries were increasing after this year's grand final but ruled out any further changes to bumping laws meaning the hip and shoulder will remain a key feature of the sport.
Meanwhile, hamstring injuries - which at an average of 6.6 injuries per club last season account for more than double the next most common injury (groin at 3.2).
Anderson said one area the AFL would look at to reduce hamstring injuries is the use of the interchange bench.
"We are looking at the rate of the interchange (rotations) in recent years and whether that is a contributing factor to the higher rates of soft tissue injuries we are seeing," he said.
But he said there are no plans at this stage to put a cap on the number of interchange movies allowed by each club.
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