Sports injuries are very common in this competitive world. They can be categorized as: 

1. Classification due to cause – It can be further classified into 

• Direct –It is caused due to impact of external forces e.g. a hockey player receiving a bruise from being struck on the face by a stick during a game.
• Indirect – These injuries typically involve the athlete himself by damaging the soft tissues such as the ligaments, tendons or muscles. 
• Overuse – It is caused due to the overuse of body parts, e.g., tennis elbow in javelin throwers. 

2. Classification due to types of tissues – it can be further classified into- 

(a) Soft tissue – like sprain, strain, abrasion etc 

(b) Hard tissue – These occur in bones and cartilages, e.g., fracture. 

3. Abrasion – It is an injury to the surface of skin. It exposes the blood vessels and the superficial layer of skin is scraped off. Most common site of abrasion is knees, palms and elbows. 

4. Contusion – It is an injury in which the skin is not broken but often produces bruise. It is caused due to hitting of blunt object. 

5. Laceration/Incision – It is a tear in any tissue in the body; it may be external or internal. A lacerated wound is often caused by a cut from a sharp object such as knife. 

6. Sprain – It is an injury to a joint in which some of the ligaments are stretched or tom. The symptoms consist of pain, swelling and tenderness. 

7. Strain – Strain is injury of muscle; generally known as ‘muscle puli’. This injuiy causes tearing or overstretching of muscle fibers. The symptoms of a strain are an acute pain at the time of injury. 

8. Bone and joint dislocation – A dislocation is an injury to a joint. Due to over twisting the ends of bones are forced away from their normal positions. It is common in the shoulders and fingers. 

9. Fractures – Fracture is broken or cracked bone caused accidently by a wrenching force.