ABSTRACT
This chapter is intended to provide an understanding of the causes and types of injury that occur in sport and exercise and some of the factors that influence their occurrence. After reading this chapter you should be able to:
• understand the terminology used to describe injuries to the human musculoskeletal system
• distinguish between overuse and traumatic injury • understand the various injuiries that occur to bone and how these depend
on the load characteristic • describe and explain the injuries that occur to soft tissues, including
cartilage, ligaments and the muscle-tendon unit • understand the sports injuries that affect the major joints of the lower
and upper extremities, the back and the neck • appreciate the effects that genetic and fitness and training factors have
on injury.
