The mechanism is often dorsiflexion of the ankle and inversion of the hindfoot. There is a decreased risk with the use of soft boots. Although knee injury is not as common compared to alpine skiing, ACL tears and MCL tears can still occur. Interestingly, spleen injuries in snowboarders are more frequent than with alpine skiiers. Hard-shell boots cause more knee injuries.
Snowboard bindings are nonreleasable.
It has high cardiovascular demands minus some of the jarring and pivoting seen in other aerobic endeavors. This smooth, apparently rather safe sport, makes maximum use of large muscle groups of the upper and lower limbs. Still, the vast majority of injuries are overuse. Poor weight transfer may be a cause of overuse injury because it prolongs the time the ankle is pronated. The most common overuse injuries are medial tibial stress syndrome, Achilles tendon problems, low back pain, and patellofemoral problems.