Analysis of the Injuries of Korean Professional Baseball Players during the Regular Season: A Pilot Study

Song, Mun-Ku; Jeon, Il-Woo; Kang, Hyun-Sik; Song, Mun-Ku; Jeon, Il-Woo; Kang, Hyun-Sik

doi:2022.31.2.257

Exerc Sci > Volume 31(2); 2022 > Article

Original Article

Exercise Science 2022;31(2): 257-263.

한국 프로야구 선수들의 정규 시즌 중 부상 분석: 파일럿 스터디

송문구^1,2

, 전일우³

, 강현식¹

¹성균관대학교 스포츠과학과
²삼성트레이닝센터
³삼성라이온즈 야구단

Analysis of the Injuries of Korean Professional Baseball Players during the Regular Season: A Pilot Study

Mun-Ku Song^1,2

, Il-Woo Jeon³

, Hyun-Sik Kang¹

¹College of Sport Science, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, Korea
²Samsung Training Center, Yongin, Korea
³Samsung Lions Baseball Team, Daegu, Korea

Correspondence

Hyun-Sik Kang , Tel: +82-31-299-6911, Fax: +82-31-299-6929, Email: hkang@skku.edu

Received: December 29, 2021; Accepted: April 4, 2022. Published online: April 25, 2022.

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE:
This pilot study aimed to provide descriptive statistics regarding injuries among baseball players in the Korean baseball organization (KBO) league.
METHODS:
Exposure and injury data were collected from 49 professional baseball players in a single team who participated in official games during the 2021 KBO league season. Injury data included injured body parts, injury mechanisms, injury diagnoses, activities, playing positions, and time-loss (TL). Injury rates (IRs) were calculated using the athletic-exposure (AE) and time-exposure (TE) methods.
RESULTS:
In total, 158 injuries were reported during the study period. The overall IR was 58.0 per 1,000 AE and 5.3 per 1,000 exposure times (TE). Approximately 68.4% of all injuries were non-TL (NTL) injuries, and which was approximately 2.2 times higher than TL injuries. Among TL injuries, 70.0% accounted for 1 day to less than 1 week, followed by more than 3 weeks (16.0%) and lasting more than 1 week to less than 3 weeks (14.0%) respectively. Trunk and spine were the most frequently injured body parts (21.5%), followed by arms and elbows (12.7%), thighs (11.4%), and feet (8.2%) in order. The majority of the TL injury mechanisms were noncontact (40.4%) and overuse (26.0%) with strain during pitching and base running. The majority of the NTL injury mechanisms were ball contact (73.2%) with contusions during batting and catching.
CONCLUSIONS:
Professional KBO baseball players experienced a high rate of TL injuries during official games. The majority of TL injury mechanisms were noncontact and overuse, and two-fifths of TL injuries were reported by pitchers and base runners.

Key words: Korea baseball league, Professional baseball player, Injury rate, Injury epidemiology