Sprained ankle. One of the most common injuries to padel. What is that ? how to avoid it and especially how to treat it? We tell you everything.

Since the appearance of the tracks of padel with very little sand, slips are increasingly rare. The game accelerates and sudden stops are more frequent. Perfect conditions for a sprained ankle.

A sprain is the lesion created by an overly pronounced stretching of the ligaments. The ligaments serve to unite the bones together and maintain the joints.

How can you sprain your padel ?

We are not going to list all the possible ways to get sprained, but the most frequent cases are when you perform a lateral run and you block your foot. The foot remains while your body continues to move. The outer part stretches more than expected.

The other case is when you jump to play a bandeja. You move backwards while jumping. In this case you have several pieces of information to process. The race, the positioning, the strike, the position of your opponents and… the resumption of contact with the ground. If you are not toned enough when landing, you may twist your ankle.

How do you know if it’s a sprain?

It is quite simple to detect. First of all, if it is a light sprain, you will feel your foot bend, followed by severe pain. You are going to have a little trouble walking but since you are still warm and in the heat of the action, you can continue playing.

However, if the sprain is more severe, you will hear a cracking sound, followed by severe pain and swelling in the affected area. Your foot may even change color through purple, blue, yellow.

How to treat a sprain?

A sprain should be treated with calm and discipline, especially when it is at the level of the foot. First, and immediately after the incident, apply ice to calm the inflammation. Then you can apply anti-inflammatory and take it in tablets. During the first 2 days, it can be interesting to make a compressive bandage while continuing the application of ice.

If the pain is really severe, go to your doctor or the emergency room for an x-ray. Don't delay thinking it will get better tomorrow.

Rest, leg elevation and calm when resuming activities. Start simple with seated exercises so as not to strain the joint, then stand on unstable surfaces. The return to the slopes of padel will have to be done slowly with first strikes of soft balls, without great displacements, then the light displacements and finally the jumps.

Do not take the steps too quickly because a sprain takes time to heal. Poorly cared for, the foot weakened, you are likely to repeat this bad experience.

How to avoid a sprain?

This is a question to which everyone would like to have the answer. One thing is sure, warm up properly by working your joints. Attach your shoes properly, do not hesitate to use ankle boots or apply warming creams a few minutes before entering the track.

And drink some water. Don't start drinking while you're on the trail. Start at least 30 minutes before.

 

Julien Bondia

Julien Bondia is a teacher of padel in Tenerife (Spain). Columnist and advisor, he helps you play better through his tutorials and tactical/technical articles padel.

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