SPORTS INJURIES ARE, in very basic terms, defined as any type of injury that arises as a result of playing or practicing any kind of sport. Because there is such a wide range of sports, the range of injuries that might be caused by them is also very wide: Motor car racing, for example, can lead to massive trauma and wounding from high—speed collisions, whereas boxing or other contact sports can lead to brain damage after repeated striking of the head. In other cases, sports injuries are comparatively minor, focusing on muscle strains and tears, bone injuries, and cuts and abrasions. It is possible to form some broad categories within this range of injury, however: those caused by single incidents compared with those caused by ...