WAG Does everyone get injured?

[dani4]

I am wondering what percent of gymnasts make it through their careers in the sport without a major injury.

I guess by major injury I mean significant time away from practice and/or requiring treatment from a doctor. Or a significant modification of practice.

I am guessing injuries are more common in higher level optionals than compulsory gymnasts. Does anyone get to level 10 without a major injury?

I know kids get injured doing all kinds of things. . Sometimes just running down stairs.

 

[Shooosh]

I did
Several sprains but no big injuries through level 10.
'Course, I don't think I took a lot of the risks or trained quite to the extent that gymnasts do now.

 

[profmom]

Gymnasts get injured for sure, but I am wondering what percentage of really physically active kids make it to age 18 without an injury that significantly affected their lives for more than two weeks. Not me!!

 

[Turk]

I've been injured because of gymnastics, and I've only been doing it for a couple of years!

Gymnasts get injured for sure, but I am wondering what percentage of really physically active kids make it to age 18 without an injury that significantly affected their lives for more than two weeks. Not me!!

I had two big, separate injuries and several minor ones (including two head injuries) just out in the world being a kid before I ever had a dance injury. I'd been dancing for 14 years before I got hurt doing that

 

[raenndrops]

My gymmies have had sprains and strains and "possible" breaks that required modifications to their practices... but their "bad" injuries happened outside of the gym.

OG was almost 11 when she got stepped on / tripped over at gym and they thought she broke her ankle - just sprained. YG was almost 10 when she had her first "almost" break - her foot... warming up vault, the "back spot" didn't catch her and she came down funny. HC heard a cracking sound. Again, just a sprain, luckily.
I made it to age 5 before I got my first MAJOR injury - not gym related - concussion. At 11, I managed to crack ribs and sprain a wrist and ankle all at once jumping out of a tree (of course, it was probably too far to jump - over a story tall, but my brother said I would be fine).

 

[Aussie_coach]

Lots of kids get through without any major injuries.

I trained very high hours and have never had an injury more severe than a pulled muscle.

Lots of my gymnasts get through their careers with nothing worse than this as well. In fact the majority will get through their careers with nothing worse than strains or sprains.

 

[wh/gh]

Don't know anyone in my old JO program who went without a bone break. The high-school aged girls were almost always injured or recovering from a recent injury.

 

[profmom]

Lots of my gymnasts get through their careers with nothing worse than this as well. In fact the majority will get through their careers with nothing worse than strains or sprains.

I think this means that you are doing it right.

 

[skschlag]

A strain can be troublesome. that is D's biggest injury. A shoulder strain that kept him off most equipment for about 6 weeks. PT, and time, and it is fine now.

Then there is the stitches last month....sigh....

 

[Aussie_coach]

Don't know anyone in my old JO program who went without a bone break. The high-school aged girls were almost always injured or recovering from a recent injury.

This is very concerning, for every child to sustain a break there will be either a problem with the coaching, the program or the equipment.

 

[Aussie_coach]

I think this means that you are doing it right.

Injuries should not be common in gymnastics. We have a thousand gymnasts in our gym and we have only had 4 broken bones in the past 8 years.

There are so many questions to ask.

Are the kids only being asked to attempt skills they are ready for or are they being pushed to do skills before they are ready to fulfil a competition requirement?

Is the equipment checked daily to ensure it has not come loose, moved or broken?

Is all the equipment appropriately matted?

Are the kids required to fully master prerequisite skills before attempting skills?

Does the coach use safe methods like drills before getting kids to attempts skills?

Are the gymnasts strong enough in all areas needed before attempting skills?

Are the coaches paying 100% attention to their gymnasts while coaching?

Are the coaches capable of watching a gymnast and seeing the small problems which could shortly turn into bigger problems?

Are the classes pre planned with well thought out and well planned skill learning?

Are the kids required to practise safe landing and falling on a regular basis?

Are the coaches all accredited and knowledgable?

Are kids very carefully assessed and out in the right class for their ability level?

Is the coach capable of monitoring the gymnasts and adjusting their skill load based on factors like their energy levels. Focus and so on?

Is the coach mindful of the physical developmental stages that a gymnast goes through and aware of the increased injury risk during prudery and growth spurts and carefully monitors kids in this phase?

Are the training sessions of appropriate length?

All these questions. Should be asked in a gym on a regular basis. Injuries should not be common place in this sport.

 

[COz]

I think we all want to come to your gym Aussie_coach

... and aware of the increased injury risk during prudery and growth spurts and carefully monitors kids in this phase?

Teeheehee. Got to love autocorrect

 

[gymdog]

I wouldn't define major injury the same way as you. By your definition, Yes, I had major injuries, but I'd define major injuries as ones that need surgery or make it so you can't do gymnastics or certain parts of gymnastics gain, and have ongoing problems. By that definition, no, I have no major injuries.

I've also never broken a bone doing gymnastics. I did break my foot once stepping off the stairs, it was just a freak thing. Could have happened at the gym I guess but it never did. For what it's worth, when it happened I was severely sleep deprived and sick/delirious.

That said, some people are more injury prone than others and I'm definitely not injury prone. It just depends on physiological factors in your body and I don't have the risk factors that lead to a lot of the things that would be considered the most common major injuries in gymnastics. I also don't have the kind of weird lack of ability to recover that causes some people to get injured, that said most people like that don't reach higher levels of this sport.

 

[Aussie_coach]

I think we all want to come to your gym Aussie_coach


Teeheehee. Got to love autocorrect

Hehe, meant to be puberty!

 

[Vivianflips]

I've had a hamstring strain that took me out of most practice for almost 3 months. That's the largest injury I've had in two years of gymnastics. Some people are just fortunate not to get injuries I.e. They don't trip over a mat and hurt themselves. I didn't make it through 2 years of figure skating without splitting my chin open and spraining my ankle either! Maybe I'm just accident prone?

 

[headoverheels]

My DD has been in competitive gymnastics for three years and so far the only injury has been a hairline fracture in her foot.

 

[Granny Smith]

In my personal experience with my dd and the 2 different L10 teams she competed on, everyone had been bitten by the major injury bug at some point. Now while many have had serious injuries, including my dd, they were still able to perservere and continue with the sport. One has become an event specialist in college due to her injuries, but she is still in the sport.

 

[SurpriseGymMom]

I would say most gymnasts sprain *something* during their career! and small breaks doesn't seem uncommon.
My definition of serious injury would be anything that keeps a gymnast out of practice for an extended time, a serious break, something requiring major surgery etc. a foot in a boot because of a hairline fracture or someone in a sling because of a sprained elbow I wouldn't count as serious.
My gymmie (10yo L5) has sprained her elbow from a fall on bars, sprained her wrist extenders twice (and yes, she and her coaches are working on fixing whatever it is SHE is doing incorrectly!), sprained her thumb (yes, thumb!) and sprained her ankle. Nothing serious, and nothing that took her out of gym she just had to modify her workouts until healed.
In her team there have been a few metatarsal breaks from hitting the beam on dismounts/falls, a couple of growth plate injuries to the foot and one girl who seems very prone to rolling her ankles outside of gym as she is almost in a boot more often than not..!
The older girls have had some more serious injuries, we have had one out with some back problem, two were in foot casts last year and one (career ending) arm injury on bars.

 

[coachmolly]

Some people get hit by injuries more than others, can be bad coaching, bad luck, or just the way their bodies are made. Good coaches can help prevent some injuries to an extent, but even great coaches have kids who get unfortunate injuries through fluke accidents or a body that just can't handle gym. At the end of my gym "career" I had great coaches, the best I had ever had, and still managed to break my hand warming up a bhs on a low beam- a skill I had been doing for 2-3 years. I did something different and just landed wrong- no coaching negligence involved. Kids break bones on the playground, stepping off curbs, and falling down stairs- so of course it's going to happen in the gym when they are doing tough stuff. Good coaching can minimize the risks, but stuff still happens. Though I think broken bones are perhaps more a risk of an active childhood than gymnastics in particular.
I don't think it should be an expectation that your kid will get some kind of injury that keeps them out of the gym for a prolonged period nor do I think it should normalize the occurrence of injuries happening on a regular basis, then maybe questions need to be asked about coaching methods, but it is a risk of the sport. I know lots of kids who made it through with just minor injuries- a few sprains, maybe a break, but nothing more.
I had a super freak gymnastics injury that was just a result of the make-up of my body combined with gymnastics, it was incredibly serious (2 weeks in the hospital) but not the result of negligence, gymnast error, or inadequate equipment. It was just a freak thing and definitely not the norm.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

I am wondering what percent of gymnasts make it through their careers in the sport without a major injury.

I guess by major injury I mean significant time away from practice and/or requiring treatment from a doctor. Or a significant modification of practice.

I am guessing injuries are more common in higher level optionals than compulsory gymnasts. Does anyone get to level 10 without a major injury?

I know kids get injured doing all kinds of things. . Sometimes just running down stairs.

yes.