The pattern of reportable injuries by body part was similar for men and women, but women had a higher relative frequency of ankle injuries. Both women and men have higher rates of injury in contact sports. Injuries generally are more numerous in practice than in games, but are proportional to the time the athlete is at risk. The relative frequency of injuries is higher in game situations for both women and men. In this survey, men had a higher relative frequency of game-related strains and fractures in basketball and gymnastics than did women.
More knowledge is needed about the response of women to physical training.
They participated in an integrated endurance training and conditioning program for one hour per day, five or six times a week. Injuries usually resulted from a combination of continued hard training after onset of symptoms, inherent structural weakness, or biomechanical anomaly. Tibial and femoral stress fractures constituted one-third of all injuries. Factors correlated with injuries included body composition, leg muscle strength, previous athletic participation, self-perception of fitness, and psychosomatic predisposition. Major factors in injuries in women undergoing exercise training include lack of previous conditioning, greater body weight and percent fat, and limited leg strength.