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Contents
  • The 'Danger Zone': Sports with High Hamate Fracture Risk
  • The Grip that Grabs: How Holding Technique Affects Risk
  • The Check Swing Conundrum
  • Beyond the Ballfield: Other At-Risk Activities

Swing With Caution: Why Some Athletes Are at High Risk for Hamate Fractures

Swing With Caution: Why Some Athletes Are at High Risk for Hamate Fractures

The Hidden Danger in Your Grip

For some athletes, the risk of a hamate fracture lurks in every swing. Understanding why certain sports and techniques put players at higher risk can help prevent these troublesome injuries.
Contents
  • The 'Danger Zone': Sports with High Hamate Fracture Risk
  • The Grip that Grabs: How Holding Technique Affects Risk
  • The Check Swing Conundrum
  • Beyond the Ballfield: Other At-Risk Activities

The 'Danger Zone': Sports with High Hamate Fracture Risk

Baseball, golf, tennis, and cricket players face the highest risk of hamate fractures. The common thread? All involve gripping an implement (bat, club, or racquet) that can strike the palm during a swing. In fact, hook of hamate fractures are the most common hand injury requiring surgery in professional baseball players.

The Grip that Grabs: How Holding Technique Affects Risk

In baseball, a grip where the lowest finger or fingers are placed below the knob of the bat (called a 'palmar hamate grip') increases pressure on the hamate hook nearly four times compared to a standard grip. This seemingly small change in technique can significantly boost fracture risk.
A hamate fracture is an injury to the small bone on the ulnar side of the wrist, often seen in athletes due to repetitive gripping motions in sports like baseball, tennis, and golf.

The Check Swing Conundrum

Checking a swing – starting to swing but stopping abruptly – puts enormous stress on the hamate. This sudden change in momentum can lead to a fracture, especially if the player is using a risky grip technique. It's a perfect storm of forces acting on a vulnerable part of the wrist.

Beyond the Ballfield: Other At-Risk Activities

It's not just traditional 'stick and ball' sports that pose a risk. Underwater rugby players face a high incidence of hamate fractures due to repeatedly palming the ball. Rock climbers can develop stress fractures from chronic tension in their finger flexors. Even exercises like repetitive pushups can lead to hamate stress fractures in some cases.

FAQs

Are some people naturally more prone to hamate fractures?

Possibly, due to variations in bone structure and blood supply.

Can protective gear prevent hamate fractures?

Some equipment may help, but proper technique is often more important.

Do women athletes have the same risk as men?

Risk is more related to sport and technique than gender.

Can you strengthen the hamate to prevent fractures?

Not directly, but overall wrist strengthening may help reduce risk.

Are youth athletes at higher risk?

Not necessarily, but proper technique education is crucial for young players.

Knowledge is Prevention

Understanding your risk factors is the first step in preventing hamate fractures and staying in the game.
Concerned about your hamate fracture risk? Chat with Doctronic to learn personalized prevention strategies for your sport or activity.
Additional References
  1. Rhee PC, et al. Hand (N Y) 2021; 16:498.
  2. Alexeev M, et al. Orthop J Sports Med 2021; 9:23259671211045043.
  3. Flynn LS, et al. Orthop J Sports Med 2021; 9:23259671211060807.
  4. Scheufler O, et al. Hand Surg 2013; 18:357.
  5. Lutter C, et al. Wilderness Environ Med 2016; 27:492.
This article has been reviewed for accuracy by one of the licensed medical doctors working for Doctronic.