- An Analytical Study of the Most Common Sports Injuries in Apparatus Gymnastics for First-Year Students in the Department of Physical Education and Sports Sciences

Abstract

• The importance of this research lies in its focus on first-year students, who are most susceptible to injuries due to their limited experience with gymnastics equipment and their lack of expertise in proper technique. This makes it essential to study the injuries they sustain and ways to minimize them to ensure their continued participation in their academic and athletic pursuits. The research aims to identify the most common types of sports injuries experienced by first-year gymnastics students during apparatus classes. It also seeks to identify the most vulnerable body parts to injury during apparatus classes and to understand the causes of these injuries from the perspective of the injured students. The researcher employed a descriptive survey methodology, deemed most suitable for the nature of the research problem. The study population and sample consisted of 48 injured first-year male students, representing 47.5% of the total student population. The researcher also concluded that the most common injuries among first-year gymnastics students were muscle contusions, followed by herniated discs and ligament tears. The most common body parts prone to sports injuries among first-year gymnastics students were the shoulder joint, followed by the neck and wrist joints. The most frequent causes of injury among first-year gymnastics students were inadequate warm-up, followed by a teaching method lacking a gradual increase in the difficulty of the required movements or skills, and failure to adhere to safety regulations during lectures. The researcher recommended emphasizing the importance of a proper warm-up before each gymnastics session, paying particular attention to preparing the joints most susceptible to injury. He also recommended the regular inclusion of exercises that develop fundamental fitness components (strength, balance, and flexibility) in the curriculum, as well as a gradual progression in teaching motor skills on gymnastics equipment, starting with simple skills and progressing to more complex ones.