Written by the Phoenix Rehab physiotherapy and hand therapy teams. Clinically reviewed by Louise Yow, Principal Physiotherapist & Director, AHPC A1300363H; hand, wrist and elbow sections by Nigel Chua, Principal Hand Occupational Therapist & Director, AHPC A1300362Z. Last reviewed 6 October 2026.
Ankle sprains are the most common acute volleyball injury. The ankle accounted for 54% of acute injuries in one study.1 The rest come from jumping and hitting: the tendon below the kneecap from take-off and landing, the shoulder from spiking and serving, and fingers and thumbs bent back on the block.
Most volleyball in Singapore is played indoors after work. A community club hall on a weeknight. A school hall rented by a social league. Sand at Sentosa on a Sunday morning. The players we see are mostly in their twenties to forties, playing two or three nights a week, with a tournament a few times a year.
The game comes in short bursts. You jump, you land, you wait for the next rally. Every landing goes through the knees and ankles of someone who sat at a desk all day.
The injuries split two ways. Some arrive in one moment: the foot that lands on a blocker’s shoe, the finger the ball bends back at the net. The rest build over weeks. The knee that aches at the bottom of the stairs the morning after. The hitting shoulder that needs a longer warm-up each month.
The finger is the one people tape and forget. A jammed middle joint swells, gets taped to its neighbor for the next game, and is still thick and stiff months later. Finger, thumb and hand injuries on this page are seen by our hand therapy team.
The movements, and what they load
| Movement | What it loads | What it most often irritates |
|---|---|---|
| Spike: approach, jump and arm swing | Shoulder, the side of the abdomen, the lower back, knees | Rotator cuff, the back of the shoulder, the labrum, a side strain, back pain on arching, jumper’s knee |
| Block | Fingers and thumb, then the ankle on the way down | Jammed and dislocated fingers, finger fractures, the thumb ligament, ankle sprain under the net |
| Overhead and jump serve | Shoulder | Rotator cuff |
| A ball striking the tip of a straight finger, on the block or the set | The tendon that straightens the fingertip | Mallet finger |
| Landing after any jump | Knees and ankles | Kneecap pain, ACL tear, ankle sprain |
Every volleyball injury, by body part
Start from where it hurts. Rows with a link go to the page that covers that injury in full.
| Where | Injury | How volleyball usually causes it |
|---|---|---|
| Hand and finger | Jammed finger (PIP sprain, volar plate injury) | The ball bending a finger back on the block |
| Hand and finger | Finger dislocation | Blocking |
| Hand and finger | Mallet finger | The ball striking the tip of a straight finger |
| Hand and finger | Finger fracture | Blocking |
| Thumb | Thumb ligament tear (skier’s or gamekeeper’s thumb, UCL) | The thumb caught and bent back on the block |
| Shoulder | Rotator cuff tendon pain | Spiking and serving |
| Shoulder | Pinching at the back of the shoulder (internal impingement, GIRD) | The arm cocked back before the spike |
| Shoulder | Suprascapular nerve compression, with wasting of the muscle on the back of the shoulder blade | Repeated spiking |
| Shoulder | SLAP (labral) tear | Spiking |
| Abdomen | Side or abdominal muscle strain (rectus or oblique) | The trunk whipping forward in the spike |
| Lower back | Low back strain | Arching back to load the spike |
| Lower back | Pars stress fracture (spondylolysis) | Repeated arching in young spikers |
| Knee | Pain below the kneecap (jumper’s knee) | Take-off and landing for spikes and blocks |
| Knee | Kneecap pain (patellofemoral pain) | Jump volume |
| Knee | ACL tear | A landing with the knee collapsing inward or twisting |
| Ankle | Ankle sprain | Landing on another player’s foot under the net |
| Ankle | An ankle that keeps giving way (chronic ankle instability) | Repeated sprains |
Not on the list, or not sure which row is yours? That is what the first visit is for.
The common ones, in more depth
Ankle sprain under the net
What it feels like. You come down from a block or a spike onto someone’s foot, and the ankle rolls outward. Pain and swelling build on the outside of the ankle, with bruising over the next day or two.
What is usually going on. The ligaments on the outside of the ankle stretch or tear. The ankle also loses strength and its sense of position. When those are not trained back, the next sprain comes easier, and a run of them is covered in ankle instability.
What we measure. Single-leg balance with eyes open and closed, heel raises counted on each side, side hops, and how you land from a block jump.
What you can do now. If you could not take four steps straight after it, a doctor checks for a fracture first. Otherwise protect it for the first few days, keep walking within comfort, and start balance work once standing on it is comfortable. Ask your therapist whether tape or a brace suits your return. It works alongside the balance work, never in place of it. Pain relief and anti-inflammatory medication are a decision for your doctor or pharmacist.
Jumper’s knee
What it feels like. Pain at the bottom of the kneecap. It hurts at the start of play, eases as you warm up, and is back that night. Stairs, squatting and standing up after sitting all find it.
What is usually going on. The patellar tendon, below the kneecap, takes the load of every take-off and landing. When jump volume rises faster than the tendon adapts, it becomes painful. Pain behind the kneecap instead is the joint itself, covered in kneecap pain. More on the tendon in patellar tendinopathy.
What we measure. Pain on a single-leg squat on a decline board, thigh strength on each side, a questionnaire built for jumper’s knee (the VISA-P), and the number of jumps the tendon tolerates and settles from by the next morning.
What you can do now. Cut jump volume first: fewer spiking reps in training and a cap on block jumps. Keep playing at a level the tendon settles from overnight. Tendons rarely settle on complete rest, and they respond to load that comes back in steps.
The hitting shoulder
What it feels like. Pain at the front, top or back of the shoulder as the arm cocks back to spike or serve, and an ache afterwards. The shoulder needs a longer warm-up than it used to. Some hitters have a hollow at the back of the shoulder blade, often pointed out by a teammate, with no pain at all.
What is usually going on. Repeated overhead hits load the rotator cuff. In the fully cocked position, the cuff and the labrum can pinch at the back of the shoulder, often in a hitting arm that has lost some inward rotation (internal impingement, GIRD). A deep clunk can be a SLAP tear. The painless hollow is the suprascapular nerve under pressure, with the muscle it supplies wasting, covered in shoulder nerve pain.
What we measure. Inward and outward rotation range against the other shoulder, rotation strength with a handheld dynamometer, shoulder blade control, and upper back rotation.
What you can do now. Reduce hitting and serving volume and keep playing defense and setting. Warm the shoulder up before the first hit. A hollow at the back of the shoulder blade, or weakness turning the arm outward, needs assessment, and your doctor may refer you for nerve tests.
Jammed and dislocated fingers
Fingers and thumbs are seen by our hand therapy team.
What it feels like. The ball bends a finger back or jams it end-on at the block. The middle joint swells, and will not fully straighten or fully bend. If it dislocated, the finger looked out of line until it went back in.
What is usually going on. The volar plate, the thick ligament on the palm side of the middle joint, is stretched or torn, sometimes with a small flake of bone pulled off it. A dislocation tears it further. A finger fracture can look like a bad sprain at first.
What we measure. The bend and straighten at each finger joint with a goniometer, swelling as finger circumference, grip strength, and how stable the joint is.
What you can do now. A finger that looks out of line needs a doctor and an X-ray before anyone pulls on it, teammates included. The middle joint of the finger stiffens readily after a sprain, so a hand therapist decides between a splint, buddy taping and early movement, based on how stable the joint is. If it has already stiffened, see the Stiff Finger Joint Recovery Program.
Mallet finger and the bent-back thumb
What it feels like. Mallet finger: the ball hits the tip of a straight finger, and the fingertip droops. You cannot straighten it on your own, though it straightens if you push it. The thumb: the ball forces it back on the block, and the base of the thumb on the index-finger side swells. Pinching a key or opening a jar hurts and feels weak.
What is usually going on. In mallet finger, the tendon that straightens the fingertip has torn, or pulled off a small piece of bone. The thumb injury is the ulnar collateral ligament, covered in sprained thumb. Some complete thumb ligament tears need a surgeon, and a doctor decides.
What we measure. How far the fingertip droops, in degrees. Pinch strength on each side. Thumb joint stability.
What you can do now. A drooping fingertip goes to a doctor first, who decides on an X-ray. Mallet finger is usually treated in a splint that holds the tip straight day and night for six to eight weeks, and letting the tip bend even once during that time restarts the clock. See the Mallet Finger Recovery Program. For a return to blocking, your therapist decides on buddy taping or a thumb splint.
Return on tests, not dates
You go back to full training and matches when the measures say so.
- Ankle. Single-leg balance and side hops within 90% of the other side, and heel raises counted to match.
- Knee. Hop tests within 90% of the other side, and a full training night of jumps with the tendon settled by the next morning. After an ACL reconstruction the criteria are stricter, and the ACL Reconstruction Recovery Program sets them.
- Shoulder. Rotation strength within 90% of the other side, then hitting in steps: standing hits, approach at half pace, full approach, jump serve last.
- Fingers and thumb. A full fist and full straightening, grip within 90% of the other hand, then blocking with the tape or splint your therapist sets.
This is Stage 4, Return & Perform, of The Phoenix Recovery Protocol. Pain is the first thing to leave. Strength is the last to train and recover.
Is this normal?
Usually expected: sore thighs and calves after a tournament or the first week of a new season, on both sides, easing over 24 to 72 hours.
Worth getting checked: pain on one side, at one spot, that is there at the start of the next game, that changes how you jump, land or hit, or that is still there after a lighter week.
What our patients say
Google reviews from our clinics in Singapore.
When to see a doctor first
- Call 995 after a collision at the net or a dive into a wall or the floor followed by confusion, vomiting, a worsening headache, drowsiness or a seizure, or any neck injury with numbness, tingling or weakness in the arms or legs. Do not move a player with a suspected neck injury. Also for collapse or chest pain on court.
- Go to the emergency department now if a finger, ankle or knee is visibly out of place and has stayed out, or if back pain comes with numbness between the legs or new problems passing urine or stool.
- See a doctor the same day for a finger that looks out of line, a fingertip that droops and will not straighten on its own, a thumb bent back with swelling and a weak pinch, an ankle you could not take four steps on after the landing, or a knee that swelled within hours of a landing with a pop.
- See a doctor soon for a hollow at the back of the shoulder blade or new weakness lifting or turning the arm, one-sided low back pain on arching in a young player lasting more than two weeks, or an ankle that keeps giving way.
Questions people ask
What is the most common volleyball injury?
Ankle sprains are the most common acute volleyball injury, and most happen when a player lands on another player’s foot under the net. The ligaments on the outside of the ankle stretch or tear, and the ankle also loses strength and its sense of position, which have to be trained back.
What should I do if I jam my finger blocking?
A finger that looks out of line needs a doctor and an X-ray before anyone pulls on it. A jammed middle joint is usually a volar plate injury. That joint stiffens readily after a sprain, so a hand therapist decides between a splint, buddy taping and early movement, based on how stable the joint is.
What is jumper’s knee in volleyball?
Jumper’s knee is pain in the patellar tendon at the bottom of the kneecap, from the load of repeated take-offs and landings. It often hurts at the start of play, eases as you warm up, and returns that night. Tendons rarely settle on complete rest, so jump volume is cut first and built back in steps.
Why is there a hollow at the back of my shoulder blade?
In volleyball hitters, a painless hollow at the back of the shoulder blade can be the suprascapular nerve under pressure, with the muscle it supplies wasting. A teammate often notices it first. It needs assessment, including rotation strength against the other shoulder, and a doctor may refer you for nerve tests.
Where are you with this right now?
1. It is settling on its own
If the ankle is easier each week, or the knee eases while you cut the spiking reps, you are on the right road. Bring the volume back in steps, one more night or one more drill at a time. You do not need us for this, and we would rather say so.
2. It has stopped improving
The knee aches every morning after play and has done for months. You tape the same ankle every game. You have stopped blocking with that hand, or you serve underarm now and tell people it is tactics. That pattern is usually a strength and load problem, and rest alone rarely changes it. It is worth measuring. If it has been months, the Stalled Recovery Review is three visits over three weeks with the same therapist.
3. You have had surgery, or you have a date
An ACL reconstruction, an ankle ligament reconstruction, a finger fracture held with pins or a plate, or a shoulder labral repair each has a shape, with protected weeks before jumping and hitting come back. See the Ankle Ligament Reconstruction Recovery Program, hand therapy after surgery, physiotherapy after surgery and the recovery programs. All of it runs on the four stages of The Phoenix Recovery Protocol.
Next step
Find out which stage you are in
Pain is the first thing to leave. Movement and strength are the last things trained back, and most people stop before that part is done. One Assessment and Treatment is a single 45-minute appointment at $230, nett, no GST. Your therapist finds what is limiting your jump, your landing or your hitting arm, treats it in the same appointment, and you leave with your current stage and a written plan.
Prefer to phone? Each of our five clinics has its own number on the clinics page. No referral needed to book.
Related reading
Sources
- Bahr R, Bahr IA. Incidence of acute volleyball injuries: a prospective cohort study of injury mechanisms and risk factors. Scand J Med Sci Sports. 1997;7(3):166-171.
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