Africa Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, Sport and Dance
Doi
Abstract
Ballroom dancing is an increasingly popular sport around the world. However, unlike other forms of dancing such as ballet and modern, very little is known about the incidence, nature and severity of injuries sustained by dancers. The aims of this study were: 1) to quantify the incidence of injuries 2) to identify the nature of injuries; and 3) to identify potential aetiological risk factors of injury retrospectively, by means of a questionnaire, at the 2004 South African national championships. The overall incidence of injury was 0.99 per 1 000 dancer-hours. There was a statistically significant difference (p0.05), whereas a statistically significant difference (p<0.05) was observed among females, where muscle spasms (24%) and blisters (21%) were the most frequently occurring injuries. In conclusion, dancers need to be educated about the necessity to seek medical advice when injured, and should supplement their dance training with core stability strengthening exercises and fitness training that reduce the risk of injuries and improve performance.http://www.ajol.info/journal_index.php?jid=153&ab=ajpher
