Citation

Young JA, Pain MD, Pearce AJ. Br. J. Sports Med. 2007; 41(11): 806-811.

Affiliation

Dept of Sport and Recreation. Victoria University TAFE, Australia.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2007, BMJ Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1136/bjsm.2007.036541

PMID

17566049

PMCID

PMC2465282

Abstract

This study examined the experiences of professional female tennis players returning to competition from injury. In a study which was commissioned by Tennis Australia, fifty-five Australian professional female tennis players responded anonymously to a questionnaire developed for the purposes of this study. The questionnaire consisted of both open and closed questions which assessed a player's attribution style, the occurrence and effect of minor and major injuries, frequency and type of treatment sought, attitudinal chances following injury and preventative injury factors. The quantitative and qualitative analyses of participants' responses revealed players generally displayed an internal attribution style with the majority of minor injuries involving lower limb injuries (attributed to playing on hard surfaces). Players reported these injuries were addressed in a variety of ways including self-treatment. The majority of severe injuries were upper limb/shoulder and these were generally treated at tournament sites with some requiring surgery. Players adopted a range of measures to assist recovery from severe injury including the services of health professionals. In further findings, a player's attribution style was not a predictive variable, except in terms of the number of tournaments missed for minor injuries. Implications of the study's results and future research directions for cross-cultural studies are highlighted.

Language: en