Tetherball (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 & Recreation Equipment · CPSC Code 1276
Down 64% over 5 years
The verdict
Tetherball (activity, Apparel Or Equipment) carry a danger score of 27/100 (low risk), driven by roughly 1,631 ER-treated injuries a year that are declining by about 64% over the last five years.
- 27/100
- danger score (low risk)
- 1,631
- ER visits per year (avg)
- 0.6%
- end in hospital admission
- 5-14
- most-injured age group
Every figure is rendered from the CPSC NEISS record for product code 1276 - last data year 2024.
PlainSafety danger score
How this 27/100 score is built
The score is computed from four CPSC-derived factors for tetherball (activity, apparel or equipment) - no opinion, no editorializing:
- Injury volume1,631 ER visits/yr
- Severity (hospitalization rate)0.6%
- Fatality rate0.00%
- 5-year trend-64%
See the full methodology for the exact weighting of each factor.
What the CPSC Data Shows
Tetherball (activity, Apparel Or Equipment) (CPSC product code 1276, in the Sports & Recreation Equipment category) generate an estimated 1,631 emergency-room visits every year in the United States, adding up to roughly 32,624 ER-treated injuries across the 20-year span from 2005 to 2024. PlainSafety derives a danger score of 27/100 for this category (low risk), combining raw injury volume, demographic reach, severity of outcome, and multi-year trend. The five-year trajectory shows that injury counts are declining by about 64% over the last five years, with the busiest year on record being 2007 (2,989 estimated ER visits) and the quietest 2020 (29 estimated visits).
The single most common ER diagnosis for tetherball (activity, apparel or equipment) is strain, sprain to the finger, accounting for approximately 6,530 visits across the 20-year NEISS window, followed by fracture to the finger (4,067 cases). The 5-14 age group absorbs the largest share of injuries, about 28,393 cases over the NEISS window, and females appear slightly more often than the opposite sex in that cohort. Severity outcomes from the NEISS disposition field show that 0.6% of ER visits involving this product end in hospital admission or transfer.
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 tetherball (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 | 136 | 73 | |
| 5-14 | 10,158 | 18,235 | |
| 15-24 | 1,051 | 1,152 | |
| 25-34 | 111 | 411 | |
| 35-44 | 144 | 335 | |
| 45-54 | 16 | 282 | |
| 55-64 | 139 | 209 | |
| 65-74 | 81 | 77 |
Most Common Injuries
| Body Part | Diagnosis | Est. Injuries |
|---|---|---|
| Finger | Strain, Sprain | |
| Finger | Fracture | |
| Finger | Contusions, Abr. | |
| Head | Internal Injury | |
| Finger | Other | |
| Wrist | Strain, Sprain | |
| Wrist | Contusions, Abr. | |
| Hand | Contusions, Abr. | |
| Head | Concussion | |
| Ankle | Strain, Sprain | |
| Face | Contusions, Abr. | |
| Wrist | Fracture | |
| Head | Laceration | |
| Hand | Fracture | |
| Face | Laceration |
Severity Breakdown
ER Visit Narratives
Real anonymized emergency room reports from the CPSC NEISS database.
8 YOF INJURED LT PINKIE FINGER WHILE PLAYING TETHERBALL AT SCHOOL TODAY. DX: CLOSED FX OF PROXIMAL PHALANX OF LT LITTLE FINGER
14 YOM HURT L KNEE PLAYING TETHERBALL AT SCHOOL DX; PATELLA DISLOCATION
7 YOM. FINGER PAIN WHILE PLAYING TETHERBALL AT SCHOOL DX: SPRAIN OF INTERPHANLANGEAL JOINT OF RT MIDDLE FINGER
4YOM,PLAYING TBALL WITH OTHER CHILDREN ACCIDENTALLY WALKED TO CLOSE TO ANOTHER CHILD AN SWING METAL STRUCK HEAD,DX:BHT
8YOF,UPPER ARM,FINGER PAIN AFTER TETHER BALL SEVERAL DAYS,DX:ARM CONT,SPRAIN FINGER
9YOF HIT LEFT FOOT ON TETHERBALL POLE AT SCHOOL. DX: CONTUSION OF LEFT FOOT
12YOF, ACCIDENTALLY HYPEREXTENDED HER THUMB WHILE PLAYING TETHERBALL DX: INJURY OF RIGHT THUMB
6YOM WAS PLAYING TETHERBALL AT SCHOOL AND WAS HIT BY BALL AND FELL BACK. DX: CONCUSSION
10YOF HAS WRIST PAIN AFTER SHE HIT A TETHERBALL AT SCHOOL. DX: LEFT WRIST SPRAIN
13YOF, WAS PLAYING TETHER BALL GOT STRUCK THE TOP OF THE HEAD SEEMED DAZED AND DID NOT RESPOND FOR FEW MINUTES THEN LATER FELL OFF THE COUCH WHILE ASLEEP STRIKING HEAD AGAIN DID NOT WORK UP RIGHT AWAY BUT WOKE UP CRYING COMPLAINING OF HEADACHE AND BECAME ANXIOUS DX: INJURY OF HEAD; CONCUSSION WITHOUT LOSS OF CONSCIOUSNESS
11YOM WAS PLAYING TETHERBALL AT SCHOOL WHEN PT BENT OVER AND FELT CRACK IN BACK, CAUSING HIM TO FALL DOWN. DX: ACUTE LEFT SIDED LOW BACK PAIN WITHOUT SCIATICA
8YOM HAS LEFT THUMB DEFORMITY AFTER PT WAS PLAYING TETHERBALL AT SCHOOL. DX: DISLOCATION OF METACARPOPHALANGEAL JOINT OF LEFT THUMB
Product Recalls
Search for active and past recalls related to tetherball (activity, apparel or equipment) on the CPSC website.
Frequently Asked Questions
How dangerous are tetherball (activity, apparel or equipment)?
Based on 20 years of CPSC data, tetherball (activity, apparel or equipment) have a danger score of 27/100 (low risk). An estimated 1,631 ER-treated injuries occur annually in the U.S. related to this product category.
What are the most common injuries from tetherball (activity, apparel or equipment)?
The most common injury is strain, sprain to the finger, accounting for approximately 6,530 injuries over 20 years.
Are injuries from tetherball (activity, apparel or equipment) increasing or decreasing?
Down 64% over 5 years.
Who is most at risk for tetherball (activity, apparel or equipment) injuries?
The 5-14 age group accounts for the most injuries, with approximately 28,393 cases recorded over 20 years. Females are more frequently injured in this age group.
What happens when someone is injured by tetherball (activity, apparel or equipment)?
Of all ER visits involving tetherball (activity, apparel or equipment), approximately 0.6% result in hospital admission. The majority of patients (99.4%) are treated and released from the emergency department.
How can I report a safety problem with tetherball (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 & Recreation Equipment
Safety Guides
What this means for you
Treat the 27/100 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.
