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Volleyball is a sport that requires intensive amounts of movement and jumping on the court. For college students, more than 750 ankle injuries occurred on the volleyball court from 1988 to 2005. These ankle injuries account for 36% of all injuries in the college sport of female volley ball.

In order to stop these injuries, the coaches and staff at the University of Pennsylvania decided to make wearing an ankle brace mandatory for their volleyball players. After implementing the ankle brace rule, and performing in seven volleyball seasons, only one injury occurred while wearing an ankle brace.

Of the volleyball players that used the ankle brace during the seven seasons, 132 had been affected previously by an ankle injury.

Researchers are thrilled with the results and by the potential outcome this could bring for the use of braces as preventative devices in sports. While further studies are needed to determine the styles and types of braces that are most effective in athletes, there is no doubt that an ounce of prevention is a good choice for athletes.