While public perception may frame surfing as a dangerous sport, new research begs to differ. In the first study of its kind, researchers have computed the rate of injury among competitive surfers and found they are less prone to harm than collegiate soccer or basketball players. Led by researchers at Rhode Island Hospital and Brown Medical School, the findings of the study are published in the January 2007 issue of the American Journal of Sports Medicine.
"We found that competitive surfing has a relatively low risk of injury - 6.6 significant injuries per 1,000 hours of surfing - compared to other sports for which comparable data is available," says lead author Andrew Nathanson, MD, an emergency medicine physician with Rhode Island Hospital's Injury Prevention Center. "However, the risk of injury more than doubled when surfing in large waves or over an area with a hard bottom."
1) This study was done in Rhode Island. Is there surfing in Rhode Island?
2) That's reassuring, but what if the issue is that soccer is just really secretly dangerous? I don't think they looked into all the possible confounds of their analysis.
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2. I recall seeing a study about soccer being one of the most dangerous sports for youths in terms of brain damage. I think they looked at brain spots. It was worse than football. All the heading I assume.