Module 2: Identification of risk factors

Sports Injuries

1. Identification of risk factors
   1. Extrinsic injury
   2. Intrinsic injury
2. Extrinsic risk factors
   1. Inappropriate coaching of instruction
   2. Incorrect technique
   3. Environmental conditions
   4. Other sports players
   5. Equipment, clothing, and footwear issues
3. Safety checks
4. Intrinsic risk factors
   1. Poor preparation
5. Planning a warm-up activity
   1. Muscle imbalance
   2. Fitness levels
   3. Postural defects
   4. Overuse
   5. Poor technique
   6. Age
   7. Injury history
   8. Nutrition
6. Intrinsic and extrinsic risk factors activity
7. Summary of injuries and risk factors activity
8. Preventative methods

Poor preparation

This is a very common cause of sports injury. The warm-up prepares both the body and the mind for the exercise that is to come by gradually increasing the heart rate and taking the body from its non-active state to being ready for exercise.

The length in which a person needs to warm-up will vary dependent on the person, the activity about to take place, and the level of fitness of the individual.

The environment will also affect the length of the warm-up. In cold surroundings it will be necessary to carry out a longer warm-up than in hot surroundings.

A warm-up should consist of three components:

1. A pulse raiser - to get the blood flowing more quickly around the body and so help to warm-up the muscle tissues and make them more pliable.

2. A mobiliser - in which the joints are taken through their range of movement, such as arm circles to mobilise the shoulder joint.

3. Stretching - a whole body approach to stretching the body is ideal in preparing the body for the activities about to be undertaken.

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