In handball players, shoulder joints and elbow joint injuries are less than lower limbs. However, in overuse injury, shoulder joints occur frequently.

Also, ‘handball goalie’s elbow’ can be cited as the trauma of the elbow joint generated in the handball. This is an injury that is commonly found in the goalkeeper, and injuries occur when the elbow is forcedly hyperextended.

The causes of these injuries are caused by functional changes due to frequent throwing motion, “Glenohumeral internal rotation deficit (GIRD)”, “Decrease of external shoulder joint force”, “Scapular dyskinesis (Motion abnormality of shoulder blades)” and technical factors are considered to be related.

Stretching as a prevention method is effective in acquiring and improving the range of motion, training with bands and tubes, strength training such as pushups is also effective for strengthening muscles.

However, it is difficult to lead fundamental injury prevention merely by being transiently performed after injury. The training effect seems to be greatly influenced by how much team and athletes can be motivated and consciously trained.

Judo has been recognized as a high-risk sport for shoulder and elbow injuries. However, there is a lack of scientific evidence regarding their prevention strategies. Also, to the author’s knowledge, there is no intervention study aiming for the prevention of shoulder and elbow injury for judo athletes. Therefore, this overview paper provides current information regarding the epidemiology, common pathology, and injury situation/mechanisms of judo-related shoulder and elbow injuries. In addition, based on previous epidemiological data, the author suggests a possible prevention strategy for the injuries, and the future direction of judo injury prevention research.

In judo, glenohumeral (GH) joint injuries (including the GH anterior dislocation), acromioclavicular joint separation, and fracture of the clavicle are the most common acute types of shoulder injuries, whereas elbow posterior dislocation and ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) injury are the most common acute types of elbow injuries. Chronic-overuse elbow injuries are also common in judo athletes, especially occurring on the turite side (the side on which the sleeve is grabbed).

It has been reported that judo-related shoulder and elbow injuries frequently occur when falling on an outstretched arm (i.e. FOOSH mechanism) or a shoulder directly. Furthermore, arm lock techniques are the frequent cause of acute UCL injuries. Seoi-nage techniques may be associated with the occurrence of both acute and chronic types of shoulder injuries as well as chronic elbow injuries in judo athletes.

Recognizing the high-risk situation and improving the breakfall (i.e. ukemi) may play an important role in preventing judo-related shoulder and elbow injuries from occurring. Likewise, young judo athletes who overuse seoi-nage techniques need to be identified, due to the greater risk of elbow injury associated with these actions.

Since tennis involved swinging motion, upper limb injuries are expected, especially “Tennis elbow”. However, in epidemiological studies showed that the tendency of injury is different from players’ skill-level. In this paper, tackle on the definition, etiology, courses (injury mechanism) and reconditioning exercises on representative shoulder and elbow injuries. Furthermore, in recent years, the mechanism of tennis elbow has changed. Due to the development of tennis racket dramatically and the ways recrea-tional players swing, actual example is explained. Regarding on prevention, proposed several exercises from the viewpoint of “making movement” of the swing motion.

There are a number of studies on prevention of injuries caused by excessive throwing. Various attempts have been tested also in Japan to prevent such injuries. However, many young baseball players who suffer a throwing injury, and it is also reported that the number of such players is increasing.

It is difficult to judge whether each of diverse functional deterioration is a cause of a throwing injury or a result of such an injury, or an adaptation to the pitching action. Chronological assessment and observation at the actual site where the sport is practiced are essential for making better judgement ; and assessing changes over time, predicting injuries and preventing them are of prime importance.

Many people routinely have a routine in which they exercise once a week. They should be performed along with the purpose of the training. Stability training is often carried out for enhancement of performance in the field of sports. An appropriate load is important for athletic rehabilitation. Rehabilitation without gradual advancement characteristics can lead to various repercussions such as prolongation of period of return to play and recurrence injuries. It is therefore advisable to objectively assess the load exerted by each training method. However, the degree of alteration of muscle activity on change of the height and instability of feet on performing side bridges was unclear. Seventeen healthy male participants performed four kinds of side bridges (on the stable floor, stable 30cm stand, unstable floor, unstable 30cm stand). Muscle activity was measured and inspected at the time of the enforcement. Activity of the gluteus medius, external oblique muscle, internal oblique muscle and the multifidus lumborum muscle were measured with the help of a surface electromyogram. The gluteus medius significantly showed low activity on the stable 30cm stand in com-parison with the other conditions. The external oblique muscle, internal oblique muscle, and the multifidus lumborum muscle significantly showed significantly high activity underon the unstable condition. It was thought that by raising the feet on the platform, the activity of the gluteus medius muscle decreased. Besides, it was suggested that the activity of the trunk muscles mayight be markedly required highly needed underon the unstable condition.

The aim of this study was to determine to determine the effect of stretching external rotator muscles of the glenohumeral joint (GHJ) on the internal range of motion of the GHJ and force produced by the external rotator muscles of the GHJ in the individuals with posterior laxity affected external rotator strength. Twenty healthy young subjects were classified into a stable group (n=10) with no posterior shoulder laxity and a laxity group (n=10) with posterior shoulder laxity. Shoulder external rotator strength was measured three times chronologically - before and after external rotation with resistance and after a sleeper stretch. Each amount of muscle strength was normalized by the amount of strength measured at the baseline (100%). As a result, the stable group demonstrated the amount of strength for 93±10 after load and 105±13 after the stretching intervention, whereas the laxity group demonstrated 92±10 after exercise load and 95±10 after the stretching intervention. Moreover, muscle strength in the stable group increased significantly after stretching compared to after exercise load. These results suggested that stretching of the external rotators by individuals with posterior shoulder laxity could be associated with the risk of decreased muscle strength.

This study aimed to clarify whether a cooling method applied during halftime influences the running distance in the second half of a soccer game by suppressing the decrease in momentum. The subjects were 7 soccer players of K university (age, 19.5±0.6 years ; height, 175.9±6.0cm ; body weight, 67.2±5.1kg). During halftime (15 minutes), two conditions were applied randomly. One was cooling with an ice underwrap, ice towel, and intake of cold water (cooling condition), and the other was no cooling (control condition). The differences in running mileage between the first and second halves were 84.3±148.2m under the cooling condition and −204.5±126.9m under the control condition, indicating a significantly shorter running mileage under the control condition (p<0.01). No significant difference in running speed was found between the two conditions. As a result, this study suggests that application of the cooling method described herein during halftime of a soccer game is useful for suppressing the decrease in momentum, which reduces the running distance in the latter half of the game.