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One of the first epidemiological studies in the injuries of professional Ultimate Frisbee athletes
16 Male teams were recruited from American Ultimate Disc league in 2017.
299 injuries occurred over 8963 athlete exposures (AE, 1 athlete exposure is defined as 1 athlete participating in 1 practice or 1 competition, playing at least 1 point disregarding for time on the field), which makes the injury rate 33.36 per 1000 AE.
Most common injury:
Winner: thigh muscle strains 12.7%
Runner-up: Ankle ligament sprains 11.4%
Mechanism of injury:
Running 32%
Collisions between athletes 29% (Important: Concussions accounts for only 0.7%)
Layout 20% (4 x more likely in competition)
Injury location:
Ankle 19%
Thigh 17%
Knee 14%
Other interesting findings
- Twice as likely to sustain an injury in the 2nd half
- Twice as likely to sustain an injury during competition
- Offense-cutter position are injured most often
- Playing on turf appears to have more incidences of injury also.
Practical implications:
As the study highlights, the majority of injuries occur in the lower extremity at the elite level. It can be taken into consideration when creating training programs to reduce the risk of injuries in athletes.
Hess et al (2020). Descriptive Epidemiology of Injuries in Professional Ultimate Frisbee Athletes
Video explaining Ultimate Frisbee by a NZ Womens Representative: View Here
