There are numerous injuries that can be sustained by the upper leg. Injuries to this area include contusions to the quadriceps muscle group with varying degrees of severity, myositis ossificans as a result of severe and repeated trauma, hamstring and quadriceps muscle strains as well as femoral fractures.

The legs have powerful muscles. Strains range from a complete rupture of the hamstring to small micro-tears that the player will probably not notice at the time.

The thigh muscles can be organised into four main groups:

• Quadriceps femoris and sartorius in the middle of your upper front leg – you use them to straighten your knee, and to lift your upper leg to your stomach. All four parts of the quadriceps are used in running, jumping, climbing and rising from a chair.
• The adductor group of six muscles on the inside of the thigh – you use them to close your legs
• The hamstring group of three muscles lies on the back of the thigh – you use them to bend your knee and to pull your upper leg backwards. Pulled hamstrings – you’ll feel it in your bum – are common sports injuries for sprinters.
• The abductor muscles on the outside of the thigh – you use then to open your legs.