Other Ball Sports (activity, Apparel Or Equipment)
Twenty years of CPSC NEISS emergency-room records for this consumer product category, combined with demographic breakdowns, multi-year injury trends, and matching recall notices.
Sports Protective Equipment & Gear · CPSC Code 3235
Stable over 5 years
The verdict
Other Ball Sports (activity, Apparel Or Equipment) carry a danger score of 41/100 (moderate risk), driven by roughly 37,690 ER-treated injuries a year that are roughly flat over the last five years.
- 41/100
- danger score (moderate risk)
- 37,690
- ER visits per year (avg)
- 4.2%
- end in hospital admission
- 5-14
- most-injured age group
Every figure is rendered from the CPSC NEISS record for product code 3235 - last data year 2024.
PlainSafety danger score
How this 41/100 score is built
The score is computed from four CPSC-derived factors for other ball sports (activity, apparel or equipment) - no opinion, no editorializing:
- Injury volume37,690 ER visits/yr
- Severity (hospitalization rate)4.2%
- Fatality rate0.05%
- 5-year trend+1%
See the full methodology for the exact weighting of each factor.
What the CPSC Data Shows
Other Ball Sports (activity, Apparel Or Equipment) (CPSC product code 3235, in the Sports Protective Equipment & Gear category) generate an estimated 37,690 emergency-room visits every year in the United States, adding up to roughly 753,790 ER-treated injuries across the 20-year span from 2005 to 2024. PlainSafety derives a danger score of 41/100 for this category (moderate risk), combining raw injury volume, demographic reach, severity of outcome, and multi-year trend. The five-year trajectory shows that injury counts are roughly flat over the last five years, with the busiest year on record being 2024 (59,765 estimated ER visits) and the quietest 2020 (20,199 estimated visits).
The single most common ER diagnosis for other ball sports (activity, apparel or equipment) is strain, sprain to the ankle, accounting for approximately 60,210 visits across the 20-year NEISS window, followed by fracture to the finger (50,829 cases). The 5-14 age group absorbs the largest share of injuries, about 356,654 cases over the NEISS window, and males appear slightly more often than the opposite sex in that cohort. Severity outcomes from the NEISS disposition field show that 4.2% of ER visits involving this product end in hospital admission or transfer, and a small fraction (0.05%) result in fatality.
Beyond the hospital-sampled NEISS projections, this page also aggregates 0 consumer incident reports filed directly on SaferProducts.gov, plus 20 anonymized ER narratives - together forming a layered picture of how other ball sports (activity, apparel or equipment) fail in real households. Every figure on this page comes from CPSC-published data: NEISS projects national estimates from a probability sample of about 100 U.S. hospital emergency departments, while SaferProducts.gov collects voluntary reports from consumers, manufacturers, and clinicians. The danger score, trend indicators, and demographic breakdowns update automatically when CPSC releases a new yearly NEISS file, which is why this page is dated 2024-12-31. For regulatory context, consult CPSC recall notices and the SaferProducts.gov public database linked below.
Annual Injury Estimates (2005–2024)
Source: CPSC NEISS national estimates CPSC NEISS national estimates Injuries represent ER-treated cases only
Who Gets Injured?
| Age Group | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-4 | 5,547 | 2,518 | |
| 5-14 | 231,697 | 124,921 | |
| 15-24 | 83,914 | 42,953 | |
| 25-34 | 36,860 | 24,179 | |
| 35-44 | 26,086 | 16,506 | |
| 45-54 | 14,067 | 11,637 | |
| 55-64 | 18,292 | 21,901 | |
| 65-74 | 34,001 | 29,600 | |
| 75+ | 16,033 | 12,949 |
Most Common Injuries
| Body Part | Diagnosis | Est. Injuries |
|---|---|---|
| Ankle | Strain, Sprain | |
| Finger | Fracture | |
| Head | Internal Injury | |
| Finger | Strain, Sprain | |
| Knee | Strain, Sprain | |
| Wrist | Fracture | |
| Upper Trunk | Other | |
| Wrist | Strain, Sprain | |
| Head | Concussion | |
| Face | Laceration | |
| Lower Arm | Fracture | |
| Lower Leg | Strain, Sprain | |
| Knee | Other | |
| Foot | Strain, Sprain | |
| Face | Contusions, Abr. |
Severity Breakdown
ER Visit Narratives
Real anonymized emergency room reports from the CPSC NEISS database.
76 YOM WAS PLAYING PICKLEBALL ABOUT 30MIN AGO, FELL BACKWARDS HITTING HIS HEAD ON THE BENCH, C/O PAIN TO LEFT BACK, RIBS AND LEFT SHOULDER. DX: RIB FX
13 YOM ROLLED HIS ANKLE PLAYING DODGEBALL LAST NIGHT. DX: ANKLE PAIN
16YOM WAS PLAYING DODGE BALL AT SCHOOL. HE JUMPED TO AVOID THE BALL AND FELT HIS KNEE POP. DX: KNEE CONTUSION/ KNEE DISLOCATION
54YOF WAS PLAYING PICKLEBALL WHEN SHE FELL ONTO HER FOREHEAD DX:LAC TO FOREHEAD
76YOF WAS PLAYING BOCCI BALL WHEN SHE WENT TO THROW THE BALL AND LOST HER BALANCE FALLING ONTO THE COURT TRIED TO BRACE HER FALL WITH HER RIGHT ARM DX: FRACTURED RIGHT HUMERUS
15 YOM TWISTED ANKLE PLAYING DODGEBALL AT SCHOOL. DX FIBULA FX
59YOF WAS PLAYING PICKLEBALL WHEN SHE DEVELOPED PAIN IN CHEST DX:CHEST PAIN
66 YOF. WRIST INJURY AFTER PT FELL WHILE PLAYING PICKLEBALL ONTO OUTSTRETCHED LT HAND. DX: CLOSED COLLE' FX OF LT RADIUS
71YOM PRESENTS WITH HEAD AND NECK PAIN AFTER WHILE PLAYING PICKLEBALL HE LOST HIS BALANCE AND FELL BACKWARD HITTING HEAD ON GROUND DX: FALL FROM GROUND LEVEL
62YOF PATIENT STATES SHE WAS PLAYING PICKLE BALL WHEN SHE RAN INTO ANOTHER INDIVIDUAL FALLING TO HER BACK AND HITTING HER HEAD. DX: BACK PAIN, HEAD INJURY
70YOF WITH FALL IN PICKLEBALL DX: CHI AND CONTUSION TO HEAD
59YOM, PLAYING PICKLEBALL AND ACCIDENTALLY GOT HIT TO THE EYE WITH THE BALL, DX: ABRASION OF RIGHT CORNEA; SUBCONJUNCTIVAL HEMORRHAGE
Product Recalls
Search for active and past recalls related to other ball sports (activity, apparel or equipment) on the CPSC website.
Frequently Asked Questions
How dangerous are other ball sports (activity, apparel or equipment)?
Based on 20 years of CPSC data, other ball sports (activity, apparel or equipment) have a danger score of 41/100 (moderate risk). An estimated 37,690 ER-treated injuries occur annually in the U.S. related to this product category.
What are the most common injuries from other ball sports (activity, apparel or equipment)?
The most common injury is strain, sprain to the ankle, accounting for approximately 60,210 injuries over 20 years.
Are injuries from other ball sports (activity, apparel or equipment) increasing or decreasing?
Stable over 5 years.
Who is most at risk for other ball sports (activity, apparel or equipment) injuries?
The 5-14 age group accounts for the most injuries, with approximately 356,654 cases recorded over 20 years. Males are more frequently injured in this age group.
What happens when someone is injured by other ball sports (activity, apparel or equipment)?
Of all ER visits involving other ball sports (activity, apparel or equipment), approximately 4.2% result in hospital admission. The majority of patients (95.8%) are treated and released from the emergency department.
How can I report a safety problem with other ball sports (activity, apparel or equipment)?
You can file a consumer incident report at SaferProducts.gov, the official CPSC reporting portal. Reports help the CPSC identify emerging hazards and trigger investigations or recalls. You can also call the CPSC hotline at 1-800-638-2772.
Related Products in Sports Protective Equipment & Gear
Safety Guides
What this means for you
Treat the 41/100 score as relative risk between products, not your personal odds of injury.
- See where this category ranks against every other tracked product. Full rankings
- Injuries cluster in the 5-14 age group, take extra care if that describes your household.
- Check for active recalls on this product before you assume it is safe. CPSC recalls
NEISS estimates ER-treated injuries from a national probability sample of hospitals; they do not capture injuries treated elsewhere or not treated at all.
Data: CPSC National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) 2005–2024 and SaferProducts.gov consumer incident reports. Injury estimates are based on a nationally representative probability sample of U.S. hospital emergency departments. This page is for informational purposes only and is not affiliated with the CPSC.
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, scored, and verified.
