Rating of Dangers of Popular Sports
So, we continue our list of the most dangerous popular kinds of sports. Indeed, lying on the sofa in front of the TV, every kind of sports seems safe but from the opposite side of the TV screen it is not the same. During the Olympic games, where safety measures are under tight control, over 10% of athletes consult doctors and around 25% of them are not able to continue their participation.
The sixth position in our rating is just another proof of it. It is hard to imagine more brutal and aggressive kind of sports than hockey.
6. Dangerous Hockey
[adrotate group=”1″]Knocked-out teeth are an integral part this kind of sports. Neither helmets, nor rubber teeth guards can protect hockey players. Dentists hardly manage to treat their teeth. And what’s the point of it if the same thing will happen on the next practice. That’s why some hockey players don’t even bother with this question.
More often than not, hockey is compared to a gladiator fight and if you were not lucky enough to sustain an injury after hitting the ice, the boards, being hit with a stick or a puck don’t worry, your opponents will help you with a brawl.
Some fans don’t even come to see the game but to see another brawl between teams without which today’s hockey can hardly be imagined. As a result, hockey players manage to sustain over 80 000 sever injuries per year in spite of good protection equipment. That’s why hockey is ranked 6th.
5. Dangerous American Football
These, even more dangerous and brutal, kinds of team sports are not so popular in our country and a lot of people don’t even have a clue that there are some differences between them. In fact, the basic difference between these two kinds of sports is that in American football players can tackle any opponent which often leads to chaotic piling up of players.
In rugby, a player can only tackle a ball-carrying opponent which significantly decreases injury rate in this kind of sports. According to the stats, rugby player sustain injuries 5.5 times less frequently than their counterparts from American football.
But rugby is also full of injuries as rugby players wear much less protective equipment than in American football and sustain at least 2-3 minor injuries during a game while 25% of players sustain severe injuries in each game.
[adrotate group=”2″]However, kids can now play such variety of American football as ‘flag’ football in which physical contact is forbidden and the main task is not to tackle an opponent but to get a bright stripe off the body of a ball-carrying player. There are practically no injuries in this kind of sports and even little boys and girls can freely play it.
For big guys, basic injuries are still of the same kind – numerous muscle pulls, fractures, bruises, concussions, face cuts etc, including even dental injuries.
Despite the injuries, rugby and American football are not less popular. Nowadays, even in Russian these kinds of sports deserve special attention. In the West, there are over 30 professional teams in the National football League in the USA, over 750 people around the world watching the Super Bowl.
4. Dangers of Cycling
Cycling is dangerous not only in extreme types but also in regular situations. Urban cyclists are often part of road accidents. While usual cycling around a city, there is a chance to hit a car and even be run over.
According to the stats, head injuries among cyclists are more frequent than among basketball players. But experts say that 85% of cerebral injuries could not happen if cyclists wore helmets. According to the stats of 1998, 98% of lethal accidents happened because the cyclists didn’t wear helmets.
[adrotate group=”3″]One shouldn’t underestimate the sad statistics of this beautiful sport. In Ukraine only, every year there are around 1 million accidents involving cyclists and around 100 000 injured consult doctors.
As a whole, each year over 800 000 cyclists die and 20 000 are taken to a hospital. At the same time, according to the stats it is safer to drive a car than ride a bicycle.
Most of these accidents happen with careless children who don’t want to wear protective equipment and get into injury-risk situation the moment when their parents are not around them. That’s why children should ride a bicycle in the places where there are no cars and intensive traffic. They shouldn’t also ride their bikes at night time or should at least equip their bikes with lights and reflectors.
The Most Frequent Injuries in Cycling
Most frequent among cyclists are lower-body injuries, like knee injuries, ankle injuries, and thigh and lumbar spine injuries. Forearm and clavicle fractures can also happen. Besides fractures of arms and legs, second most frequent type on injuries (over 10%) is injuries of meniscus and sprained knee ligament. Third most frequent type of injuries is various bruises from falling down, that’s why cyclists should wear solid protective equipment covering most part of their body.
Moreover, cyclists often deal with osteochondrosis and other spine deceases because of inappropriate position of the body on the bike during a ride. That’s why cyclists should pay more attention to the body position on the bike, proper technique of paddling, solid helmet and other protective equipment, and sufficient hydration.
Incidentally, 90% of accidents happen with men because of their aggressive style of riding. So, if ride more careful, like most women do, you’ll avoid a lot of injuries. Recommendations as to riding a bike can be given continuously and we’ll probably get back to this issue in our next articles.
Also read next about three most dangerous kinds of sports and even about 10 most extreme and dangerous for health kinds of real extreme sports, about top safest kinds of sports, and about the most dangerous martial arts in the world. And what is more important – read about how to choose the correct kind of sports. Remember – one should go in for sports even with all its dangers as sorts is very good for your health with activity and good mood being a bonus to it. If you like martial arts, I recommend you to read my book about the choice and psychology of martial arts.
