TECHNIQUE- AND TRAININGINDUCED INJURIES IN ELITE ROWERS

Abstract

The dual purpose of this paper is to describe the pathology and identify the etiology of four of the most common musculoskeletal injuries associated with rowing. A questionnaire-survey at the February 1994 Canadian national team training camp revealed the percentage and severity of these sport specific injuries. These included: lumbar and thoracic back pain, stress fracture of the ribs, chondromalacia of the patella and extensor tenosynovitis of the forearm. The results revealed a prevalence of these musculoskeletal injuries and identified three contributing factors: 1 .) the current stroke technique used by many rowers, 2.) the popularity of physiological conditioning practices of high pressure (speed) and low cadence/high pressure training, and 3.) the wide spread practice of offwater weight training.