There is a certain generation of people who refuse to play the game of squash because they’re afraid that they’ll snap the racket against the wall while playing a shot and then somehow drive it through their own neck.

This seems a strange fear for many different people to collectively hold. It’s a pretty unlikely turn of events after all. So why is this?

The answer – as it so often is – is an episode of Casualty. For such a shit programme that nobody watched, it’s had an amazing impact on the irrational fears of the nation.

Everybody remembers the snapped squash racket through the neck episode.

Continuing our theme of sporting ailments, let’s deal with ‘getting hit in the face by a cricket ball’.

Those who have never played cricket will be unaware of the severity of this sporting injury. Those who have played will be wincing. Cricket balls are close cousins of rocks.

My dad got hit in the face while playing cricket. He was wicketkeeping at the time and he says it was only a spinner bowlign, so it wasn’t even that fast.

He had to have the bone removed, so now, while his nose looks completely normal, it can actually be pressed flat against his face.

Like running with shin splints, this is a massive no-no. If you’ve got any sort of muscular problem, no matter how minor, let it rest for a couple of days before embarking on any significant training.

I had a torn hamstring and I ran with it for a couple of months. I was training for a half marathon and felt like I had to. By the end, I ran once a week, because that’s exactly how long it took until I felt like I’d recovered.

Precisely one second and one step after finishing the half marathon (which had passed without hamstring pain) I discovered I couldn’t walk and nor could I walk properly for months afterwards. It’s still hugely confusing that I could run 13.1 miles in that condition.

Afterwards, I went to a physio and he said he could get his thumb in the hole.

I tell you one thing I hate: acronyms. People use them without knowing what they stand for and pretty soon no-one remembers and then people use the acronym incorrectly and all meaning is lost. You should always know what the letters stand for.

DOMS stands for ‘delayed onset of muscle soreness’. This is the phenomenon whereby you experience stiff muscles some time after a bout of exercise. Squash Arse is one ailment that always seem to go hand in hand with DOMS.

It’s thought to be the result of many tiny tears to your muscle fibres and is felt most acutely after doing unfamiliar movements during exercise.

Shin splints are no one thing. It’s actually just a term that’s used to refer to several different problems which all result in similar pain on the front of the lower leg.

I can’t tell you which kind I suffered, but it was as a result of overuse. I did a lot of running and despite having my feet tested, I’m pretty sure I had the wrong kind of running shoes.

I will tell you one thing about the experience of having shin splints: do not go running.

I found that like many injuries, a short spell of running would cause the pain to subside, but it’s misleading. You’re actually doing more damage and you’ll know about it the next day.