Why Female Athletes Get Injured More — And What We Can Do About It

Here’s a stat that should stop you in your tracks: female athletes are up to 8 times more likely to tear their ACL than their male counterparts. And that’s just one of many injury risks that disproportionately affect girls and women in sport.

But here’s the good news: most of these injuries are preventable with better awareness, smarter training, and the right support.

What’s Driving the Higher Risk?

Injury risk isn’t just about “bad luck” or contact. There are biological and environmental reasons female athletes are more susceptible:

• Anatomy: Wider hips can create more stress on the knees during cutting and landing.
• Hormones: Fluctuations in estrogen and progesterone can affect ligament laxity and neuromuscular control.
• Neuromuscular control: Many girls lack proper movement mechanics (especially during adolescence) due to less emphasis on strength and coordination early in development.
• Training bias: Boys are often exposed to lifting, jumping, and landing skills earlier. Girls? Not as often—and it shows in injury rates.

“It’s not about being fragile—it’s about being unprepared.”

The Most Common Injuries in Female Athletes

1. ACL tears (especially in soccer, basketball, lacrosse, volleyball)
2. Ankle sprains
3. Stress fractures (often due to underfueling or low bone density)
4. Patellofemoral pain (aka runner’s knee)
5. Shoulder overuse injuries (in throwing or overhead sports)

Prevention Starts With Education + Action

Injury prevention is performance enhancement. When we teach girls how to move well, load properly, and recover intentionally, we’re not just keeping them healthy—we’re helping them compete at higher levels.

Here’s what works:

• Strength training, especially for the glutes, hamstrings, and core
• Jump and land mechanics with visual feedback (mirror or video)
• Single-leg stability work to build balance and control
• Deceleration and change-of-direction drills with proper form

Even 15–20 minutes 2–3 times a week can dramatically reduce injury risk.

Coaches + Parents: Your Role is Huge

• Don’t skip the warm-up. Include neuromuscular training every day.
• Encourage early exposure to strength and skill training—especially during growth spurts.
• Normalize movement education the same way we do shooting, dribbling, or sprinting.
• Be mindful of early specialization, which can increase repetitive stress injuries.

“An athlete who moves well stays in the game longer.”

Final Thoughts

We owe it to female athletes to give them every advantage—not just in strategy and skill, but in injury prevention and performance readiness. Injury shouldn’t be the price of participation.

When girls are strong, educated, and prepared, they stay in the game—and thrive.

References:

• Hewett TE, Myer GD, Ford KR. “Biomechanical measures of neuromuscular control and ACL injury risk.” Am J Sports Med.
• Myer GD, et al. “Neuromuscular training for injury prevention in female athletes.” 2011.
• de Borja C, et al. “The Female Athlete.” Curr Rev Musculoskelet Med. 2022.