Sport Sci Health (2009) 5:93–99 DOI 10.1007/s11332-009-0083-9 Abstract The aim of this study was to record the injury incidence in all age categories in male volleyball players and clarify the role of age in injury occurrence. The in- jury incidence rate, severity, diagnosis and the anatomi- cal location of the injuries that occurred during practice and competition in the whole championship period were recorded prospectively during the period 2005–2006. A total of 407 Greek male volleyball players participating in all Volleyball Championships in Greece according to the Greek Volleyball Federation have been observed on a weekly basis for the period 2005–2006. The injury in- cidence rate was recorded as the number of injured play- ers and also the number of injuries per player per year (total exposure time). The results revealed that injury oc- currence is age related and junior volleyball players have a lower injury rate than senior ones. There were signifi- cantly more acute injuries in comparison to overuse syn- drome and the ankle was the most common injured anatomical location. Finally, outside hitters, universals and setters presented different injury rates to other play- ers and the “incorrect sprawls” and “stepping on others’ feet” were the most common injury factors. In conclu- sion, findings in the injury occurrence rate must be in- terpreted in relation to the total exposure time in order to have more realistic conclusions. Key words Injury occurrence · Severity · Diagnosis · Chronic · Acute Introduction Volleyball is one of the most popular sports in the world, with more than 200 member countries in the Federation Internationale de Volley-Ball (FIVB) and about 150 mil- lion players [1]. However, injury is a potential outcome of participation and since volleyball is a non-contact game, where players from the opposing teams are separated by the net, it may be expected that the incidence of injuries is low. However, studies have indicated that injuries in vol- leyball are quite frequent [2–5]. The injury incidence is between 1.7 and 4.2 per 1000 h of play [1, 2, 6] and it is the fourth most common source of sports injuries [2]. Comparing volleyball with other team sports, studies have shown that the injury rate in volleyball is lower than in other team sports such as soccer and basketball. Presumably this difference can be attributed to the non-con- tact nature of the game, as players from opposing teams are separated by the net. Nevertheless, the most common mech- anism of injury in volleyball is considered to be a forced supination that occurs when the blocking player’s foot lands on an opposing spiker’s foot that has come underneath the ORIGINAL ARTICLE Received: 20 July 2009 / Accepted: 2 September 2009 © Springer-Verlag 2009 Injury incidence rate, severity and diagnosis in male volleyball players Anastasia Beneka · Paraskevi Malliou · Asimenia Gioftsidou · George Tsigganos · Helen Zetou · George Godolias A. Beneka () · P. Malliou · A. Gioftsidou · G. Tsigganos · H. Zetou · G. Godolias Department of Physical Education and Sport Science Democritus University of Thrace, Campus 69100 Komotini, Greece e-mail: ampeneka@phyed.duth.gr