Table tennis musculoskeletal injuries in young high-level players: a 17-year retrospective cohort study
Abstract
Background: Table tennis is a racket sport that has been growing in popularity in recent years. The current scientific literature on injuries remains limited. We aimed to assess the incidence and nature of injuries in young table tennis players. Methods: We conducted a 17-year retrospective single-center cohort study in the Department of Sports Medicine at a University Hospital. One hundred and thirty-nine national-level table tennis athletes aged 13.3 ± 2.1 years were studied. The cohort was divided into four groups according to age categories (U11: 8-11 years, U13: 12-13 years, U15: 14-15 years, and U19: 16-19 years). The main outcome measure was the injury rate per season and per athlete. Results: = 0.57). The most frequently injured body parts were knees (30.5%), feet (16.8%), lumbar spine (14.7%), shoulders (12.6%), and groins (10.5%). Seventy-six injuries (82.6%) were overuse injuries. The most common diagnosis was growth-related injuries (40%); these primarily affected the knee (15.8% had Osgood-Schlatter disease and 9.5% had Sinding-Larsen disease), followed by the foot (13.7% had Sever's disease). The next most frequently represented conditions were shoulder tendinopathies (11.6%), chronic low back pain (8.4%), and hip impingement (6.3%). Conclusion: Most of the injuries were chronic overuse injuries. A thorough understanding of the nature of injuries and their mechanisms of occurrence is essential to improving medical management as well as implementing effective preventive measures.
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BibTeX
@article{bonhomme2026table,
title = {{Table tennis musculoskeletal injuries in young high-level players: a 17-year retrospective cohort study}},
author = {Caroline Bonhomme and Pierre Menu and Jérôme Grondin and Thomas Hirardot and Marc Dauty and Alban Fouasson-Chailloux},
journal = {Annals of Medicine and Surgery},
year = {2026},
month = aug,
doi = {10.1097/ms9.0000000000005269},
url = {https://hal.science/hal-05740621v1},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Table tennis musculoskeletal injuries in young high-level players: a 17-year retrospective cohort study
AU - Caroline Bonhomme
AU - Pierre Menu
AU - Jérôme Grondin
AU - Thomas Hirardot
AU - Marc Dauty
AU - Alban Fouasson-Chailloux
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/08/10
JO - Annals of Medicine and Surgery
DO - 10.1097/ms9.0000000000005269
UR - https://hal.science/hal-05740621v1
AB - Background: Table tennis is a racket sport that has been growing in popularity in recent years. The current scientific literature on injuries remains limited. We aimed to assess the incidence and nature of injuries in young table tennis players. Methods: We conducted a 17-year retrospective single-center cohort study in the Department of Sports Medicine at a University Hospital. One hundred and thirty-nine national-level table tennis athletes aged 13.3 ± 2.1 years were studied. The cohort was divided into four groups according to age categories (U11: 8-11 years, U13: 12-13 years, U15: 14-15 years, and U19: 16-19 years). The main outcome measure was the injury rate per season and per athlete. Results: = 0.57). The most frequently injured body parts were knees (30.5%), feet (16.8%), lumbar spine (14.7%), shoulders (12.6%), and groins (10.5%). Seventy-six injuries (82.6%) were overuse injuries. The most common diagnosis was growth-related injuries (40%); these primarily affected the knee (15.8% had Osgood-Schlatter disease and 9.5% had Sinding-Larsen disease), followed by the foot (13.7% had Sever's disease). The next most frequently represented conditions were shoulder tendinopathies (11.6%), chronic low back pain (8.4%), and hip impingement (6.3%). Conclusion: Most of the injuries were chronic overuse injuries. A thorough understanding of the nature of injuries and their mechanisms of occurrence is essential to improving medical management as well as implementing effective preventive measures.
SN - 2049-0801
ER -