In sports medicine, injuries to the wrist, hand and fingers are of ten trivialized and cons idered in significant. But injuries to the distal aspect of the apper extremity can be functionally disabling specially in those sports that involve throwing catching. In both contact and noncontact sports activities, the wrist, hand, and particularly the fin-gers are susceptible to fracture, dislocation, liga ment sprains, and muscle strains. Protective gloves are essential in preventing injuries in sports like la crosse and ice hockey (Figure 6-31). It is also com mon to use both off-the-shelf and custom-moked splints both for support and to immobilize an injury(Figure 6-32). Athletic trainers routinely make cus.tom molded pads for their patients.