The prevalence of back injuries amongst figure skaters in relation to their functional movement

Abstract

The high incidence of back injuries amongst competitive figure skaters is reason for concern. Little is known regarding on or off ice factors contributing to these types of injuries. Insight into the causes is essential for recommending changes to prevent back injuries, to make skaters more productive with their training and improve their skating. The uniqueness of figure skating requires an in-depth look at all aspects of their training in order to understand what might be causing these injuries to occur. The goal of this study was to evaluate members of the Skating Club of Boston (SCOB) training community for the on and off ice training patterns and movements and compare those skaters with repeated injuries to those who are uninjured. In this study, 34 competitive figure skaters were enrolled, and divided into categories of skaters with significant back injury history (BIH) and skaters with no back injury history (NBIH) and stratified by gender. All skaters completed an injury history questionnaire, an off-ice muscle strength and flexibility assessment, an off-ice analysis of a squat movement and an analysis of on-ice jump technique. [TRUNCATED]