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What common volleyball injuries are, how this sport causes them, what recovery usually looks like, and the signs that mean stop and get seen. Education, not a diagnosis.

34 in injury & recovery

Chronic ankle instabilityAnkle & foot · Get it assessedThe ankle keeps rolling on flat ground, because the first sprain healed the pain but never restored the reflexes.
Lateral ankle sprainAnkle & foot · Get it assessedThe classic net injury: you land on someone's foot at the centreline, the ankle rolls under, and the outside ligaments tear.
Plantar fasciopathyAnkle & foot · Usually self-managedSharp heel pain on the first steps of the morning, from overloading the tie-rod of the arch on hard courts in thin shoes.
Syndesmotic ankle sprainAnkle & foot · Get it assessedThe foot pins and the leg rotates over it, tearing the ligaments that bind the two shin bones. Much slower than a rolled ankle.
Abdominal oblique strain (internal oblique tear at the rib attachment)Back & trunk · Get it assessedA tear in the side of the abdominal wall, usually felt as a sharp catch during a jump serve or a big swing.
Extension-based mechanical low back pain (lumbar facet irritation)Back & trunk · Get it assessedOne-sided low back pain from arching in the cocking phase. It cannot be told apart from a bone stress injury by feel, which is why it gets assessed.
Disc-related low back pain (lumbar disc injury, with or without nerve root irritation)Back & trunk · Get it assessedLow back pain coming from the disc, typically worse with sitting and bending, and sometimes sending pain down a leg.
Lumbar stress reaction and spondylolysis (pars interarticularis stress fracture)Back & trunk · Get it assessedA stress injury to a thin bridge of bone in the lower spine, driven by the repeated arch-and-rotate of hitting and jump serving.
Achilles tendinopathyCalf & Achilles · Get it assessedPain and stiffness in the heel cord from more jumping than the tendon can rebuild between sessions, worst in the morning.
Achilles tendon ruptureCalf & Achilles · Same-day medical careThe heel cord tears through: a bang, a feeling of being kicked from behind, and push-off disappears. Needs same-day assessment.
Medial gastrocnemius strain (tennis leg)Calf & Achilles · Get it assessedA sudden tear where the inner calf muscle meets its tendon, usually on a lunging dig or a hard push-off. It feels like being kicked.
Mallet finger (extensor tendon avulsion at the DIP joint)Hand, wrist & fingers · Get it assessedThe tendon that straightens your fingertip tears off the bone, the tip droops, and it hurts far less than it should.
PIP joint sprain (jammed finger), including volar plate injuryHand, wrist & fingers · Get it assessedA jammed middle knuckle is a real ligament injury, and a meaningful share of them are fractures or volar plate tears in disguise.
Thumb ulnar collateral ligament sprainHand, wrist & fingers · Get it assessedThe ligament holding the thumb against the hand tears when a ball forces it outward, and pinch grip goes with it.
Wrist sprain and TFCC irritation (triangular fibrocartilage complex)Hand, wrist & fingers · Get it assessedPinky-side wrist pain from the cartilage cushion that takes the load every time a set or a block drives the wrist back.
Neck strain (cervical strain)Head & neck · Get it assessedOverloaded or torn muscle and joint tissue in the neck, from spike and serve volume or from the head whipping in a collision.
Concussion (sport-related concussion)Head & neck · Same-day medical careA brain injury from a hit to the head or body. You do not have to be knocked out, and you do not go back on court that day.
Adductor (groin) strainHip & thigh · Usually self-managedA tear in the inner thigh muscles, typically from a hard lateral push out of the block or a wide lunge in sand.
Femoroacetabular impingement syndrome (hip impingement)Hip & thigh · Get it assessedBone shape at the hip pinches the joint rim in deep flexion, so the low defensive stance and jump loading start to hurt.
Hamstring strainHip & thigh · Get it assessedA tear in the back of the thigh, usually from a deep lunge to dig or the hard braking plant of an approach.
Hip flexor strain (rectus femoris or iliopsoas)Hip & thigh · Usually self-managedA pull at the front of the hip from the drive and plant of the approach jump, sore when you lift the knee or land.
Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) sprain or ruptureKnee · Same-day medical careThe main stabilising ligament inside the knee tears, usually on a landing or a plant, with a pop and a knee that swells within hours.
Medial collateral ligament (MCL) sprainKnee · Get it assessedA stretch or tear of the ligament on the inside of the knee, usually from a landing where the knee buckles inward.
Meniscus tearKnee · Get it assessedA tear in one of the two rubbery shock absorbers between thigh and shin, giving joint line pain, catching, and slow swelling.
Patellar tendinopathyKnee · Usually self-managedPain at the bottom tip of the kneecap that warms up as you jump and bites hardest the morning after a heavy jumping session.
Patellofemoral painKnee · Usually self-managedAching around or behind the kneecap, worse with stairs, squatting and long sitting, and it does not warm up the way a tendon does.
Quadriceps tendinopathyKnee · Usually self-managedTendon pain at the top edge of the kneecap rather than the bottom, common in blockers and in players who land deep.
AC joint sprain (shoulder separation)Shoulder · Get it assessedA sprain of the small joint where the collarbone meets the shoulder blade, usually from landing on the point of the shoulder.
Glenohumeral internal rotation deficit (GIRD)Shoulder · Usually self-managedThe hitting shoulder slowly loses inward rotation compared with the other side, which crowds the joint at the top of the swing.
Internal impingement (posterosuperior impingement)Shoulder · Get it assessedA deep pinch at the back of the shoulder in the arm back cocking position, where the cuff meets the rim of the socket.
Rotator cuff tendinopathyShoulder · Get it assessedThe cuff muscles that brake your arm after contact get overloaded and sore, usually from swing volume rather than one bad swing.
Scapular dyskinesis (SICK scapula)Shoulder · Usually self-managedThe shoulder blade stops moving the way it should, so the socket is not where the arm needs it during the swing.
SLAP tear (superior labral tear)Shoulder · Get it assessedA tear of the cartilage rim at the top of the socket, where the biceps anchors, from years of cocking or one hard fall.
Suprascapular neuropathy (infraspinatus wasting)Shoulder · Get it assessedA nerve on the shoulder blade gets irritated by the swing, wasting the muscle behind it. Often painless, first noticed as a dent.

The injury library is general education about how volleyball hurts people and what recovery usually looks like. It is not a diagnosis and it is not treatment. Vollyio cannot examine you, and two injuries that feel identical are often not. If something is not settling, or any of the warning signs on an entry apply to you, see a clinician.