‘Epidemiology of basketball injuries of the last 22 years’ is the title of the doctoral thesis defended by Toni Bové, physiotherapist of FC Barcelona basketball for more than thirty years. The research, which obtained the qualification of cum laude distinction, collects and analyses data of more than two decades of injuries in the first Barcelona team. The maximum value of this study, as highlighted by the members of the court, is the great period covered and the idea Bové had of collecting these data in detail at a time when no one did so.

The directors of the thesis have been Francisco Esparza, director of the Master’s Degree in Sports Traumatology at UCAM, Gil Rodas, head of the Medical Area of Barça Innovation Hub and doctor for nine years of the basketball team, and Martí Casals, professor specialised in statistics at the University of Vic. In addition, Jordi Ardèvol, who was a doctor at FC Barcelona for many years, Pedro Guillén, honorary dean of the Bachelor’s Degree in Medicine at UCAM, and Albert Soler, director of the professional teams of FC Barcelona and former Secretary of State for Sport, among others attended the defence of the thesis.

Toni Bové highlighted the main motivation for his study: “The idea of the thesis was to take advantage of the work carried out during so much time in the same sport and to collect all these data to put into operation mechanisms for prevention”. During the defence, he highlighted some exercises and techniques that he carried out with Barça to prevent injuries, but he also pointed out a more difficult problem to address, the demanding sport calendar: “At Barcelona we had the problem that the number of matches and trips shot up with the new Euroleague format. A team like Barça plays about 90 matches per season, carries out around 150 training sessions and spends about 90 days away from home because of travels and matches. This is a heavy burden for the body that leads to more injuries”.

That is why prevention worked in a specific type of injuries, whose incidence has decreased, but there has been an increase in other pathologies derived from overexertion: “There used to be more ankle injuries, but since we have worked a lot on prevention, this type of injury has decreased and now we have more muscular problems that are usually due to overwork”.