Padel has been recognized in France since December 12, 2024 as a high-level sport by the Ministry of Sports. It is clear that the number of licensees has been steadily increasing in France (and in French-speaking Europe as well) over the past three years, as has the number of competitors! At a time when practitioners want to choose:

Enjoying the field with friends without pain
Perform in tournaments without injury

Details about equipment can be lifesaving. After making a focus on orthoptics in padel, let us today keep our eyes fixed on the feet of the padel player with an informed exchange with two passionate podiatrists and pedicurists of padel, Gaëlle Cocoual & Fred Renard, but also fully invested in the between, as evidenced by their integration, for 20 years, into the medical team of theUltra Trail du Mont Blanc (UTMB).

Taking care of your feet for playing padel: advice from specialist podiatrists

Gaelle & Fred, first of all, thank you for welcoming us and sharing your experience in the paramedical world of podiatrists and chiropodists.
In your practice, you see a diverse population, both athletic and non-athletic. If you had to make a top 3 list of the most popular sports in your practice, what would they be?

Running (road & trail)
Football / Rugby
Handball

We know that French athletes don't always take care of their feet. What do you think would be the trigger that would encourage a padel player to visit a podiatrist?

Padel players, like other athletes, can consult a podiatrist either for a specific problem or as a preventative measure.

In the case of a skin pathology, the athlete often asks us to treat calluses, a subungual hematoma (under the nail), a blister.

For foot pain, we will define the medical situation with the athlete, including their environment (type of professional activity carried out to identify traditional foot constraints, type of sporting activity practiced).

Athletes also sometimes seek our help in the context of their performance quest. A comprehensive and complementary approach to anticipation and compensation, coupled with exercises or even proper hydration, for example, is crucial in a preventative process.

Finally, the higher the athlete competes at, the more foot problems will become more pronounced.

What would be your top recommendation if I know I'm leaving in two months padel course in Spain at the pedicure level? Should I remove the hyperkeratosis (more commonly called "the horn") that I might have for example?

If you go in 15 days, only one very light care will be done. The calloused areas, if you start to strip thoroughly, risk creating too much heat, and you risk being bothered or even suffering.

On the other hand, if you go to see your podiatrist 2 months before, we can make a complete treatment, with time reapply cream and reprotect.

For comparison, for a marathon runner, we recommend coming to see us 1 months before his race for a overall assessment of the feet (nails, skin, etc.), with a last nail cut 2 or 3 days before the due date, never the night before.

Go see the podiatrist during the preparation phase will not negatively impact the upstream phase, on the contrary, the athlete will be in good condition to be ready on D-day.

On the UTMB, how many injuries did we see because the runner had:

The horn of the July/August pair of flip-flops
A hematoma that he did not treat before the event
Badly cut nails

All of this directly impacts performance, because we are in a risky situation here.

On this subject, are you in favor of tanning the padel player's foot?

Yes, of course! We use a specific cream for tanning when running (NOK Akilénine Sport Cream). This cream has proven itself in running, and over very, very long distances, so there's no problem using this cream in the world of padel as well. It's true that if you want to avoid blisters, irritation, or overheating, you need to prepare your skin by tanning it, and this famous cream helps enormously.

We would like to take this opportunity to absolutely not recommend bandages, such as adhesive bandages or blister protectors. Indeed, if a blister unfortunately forms under the bandage, when the athlete goes to remove it, it will tear everything off, which is a disaster. It is absolutely essential to avoid the risk of infection that could occur if the blister is punctured or cut!

If we take the example of a tournament or an interclub competition that lasts and comes after an intense preparation phase, a blister can become a reason for abandonment on the day.

Tanning should begin at least 3 weeks before the big day, which is equivalent to cell renewal. It takes 3 weeks for your skin to be renewed from start to finish, so it's the same process for skin treatments (eczema, fungus, psoriasis).

The cream will moisturize the foot (like shea butter), the material will acidify the pH of the skin and make it like “leather”.

Which padel player hasn't taken home a few pinches of sand after emptying their bag, thanks to the sand on the courts? Isn't sand really a problem?

No, it's not a problem, you just need to have prepared your feet. Ultimately, foot preparation could be done (even if we are not specialized in these two sports) like a beach tennis player, beach volleyball player for example: they are always barefoot, the sand is often boiling...

There will be blistered skin and for some athletes, they will rarely get blisters, probably thanks to a thicker epidermis.

To perform, the expression: being comfortable in your shoes can only be confirmed! I would like to talk, to begin, about the choice of shoe before talking about the sole.
nox, Babolat, Head, Bullpadel or Asics really insist in their marketing pitch on the creation of sneakers designed specifically for padel, validated by research and testing laboratories. Padel sneakers tend to want to stand out from the typical pair of clay-court tennis sneakers.

We notice that many people, occasional padel athletes, novice athletes or even those who are not, wear running, trail running or even indoor sneakers.

Finally, we see it clearly: in handball, the player wears a pair for handball, for trail running, the athlete wears a pair of trail running shoes, so for padel it's the same, you have to equip yourself with a shoe that meets the requirements of the sport in question: grip level, grip level, stability level, cushioning level (etc.).

We all see padel players wearing racing-style sneakers that cause their ankles to collapse and sag. The higher the sneakers, the more likely it is that the ankle can twist and fall, with all the injuries that can result.

Finally, for padel, the EVA should not be too soft, or the shoe too cushioned, which would deform and could cause injuries.

But it's true that we don't see a lot of information about the drop of padel shoes. For athletes with Achilles tendinopathy, they know that their tendons are extremely fragile. In fact, they could have insoles to compensate for the padel shoe, if only to raise the drop a little: this way, in an extension situation, their heel can be placed.

By deciding to buy a pair of padel sneakers that we have tested beforehand, what are the small tests to carry out when trying on a new pair: we know that they are often considered rigid compared to those for other sports?

Pay attention to the width of the toes. In padel, we are often on the forefoot, there must be a little margin to avoid bruising and the spread of the forefoot must be sufficient. We can give the advice that when I choose my shoe, I take out my insole and when loading I will place my foot on it. If my foot overhangs, it may be because the brand of sneakers in question is "fit" enough.

The lacing will be important, so as not to compress the artery above the foot (pedal artery). For people who do not have a very wide ankle, finishing the lacing on the sides allows the foot to be "fitted" a little better.

To draw a parallel with running, above 50km of running, your forefoot gains half a centimeter of width, this has been scientifically validated.

Now let's talk about the sole, if you don't mind. I remain convinced that it can prevent the onset of fatigue injuries, especially in regular athletes...

Yes, on everything that is pathology:

of the forefoot in the padel player, due to overwork it is obvious: syndrome of 2^e radius, stress fracture, Morton's nerve syndrome (editor's note: pathology which causes quite intense pain under the base and between the toes)

By hypertension, all pathologies: arch, Achilles tendon, hamstrings, calves.

In our opinion, the sole is "obligatory" with medical history such as ligament laxity. The shoe cannot "do everything".

Recently, some online companies are seeking to "democratize the sale of orthotic insoles with at-home configuration." Are there any new processes in the creation of insoles?

We personally start from the assumption that it is necessary to carry out a clinical examination of the foot (medical device), running (on a treadmill if necessary), workshop upstream to make the product, molding machine to thermoform the soles.
The podiatrist creates a unique product that we have created for the patient and based on their needs, and then we make it with the patient. In one appointment, the patient leaves with their own pair of custom-fit, personalized, and unique insoles.

The profession of podiatrist in France doesn't really have an equivalent to what's done in Spain, for example. There, either the chiropodist is almost a beautician, or the podiatrist is almost a surgeon.

Furthermore, we do not personally carry out any commercial activity in France, and are therefore not subject to VAT. As healthcare professionals, our work consists of carrying out curative, preventative, or performance-based medical actions.

We are increasingly seeing the emergence of soles made with 3D printers. Perhaps this is the future of the sole, like the thermoformed sole at the time?

Ultimately, should the custom-made sole that we wear for sports also be used in so-called city shoes (the latter which are also less and less tight on the foot)?

Insoles are there to rehabilitate, reposition, and reshape. It takes time and practice, and we have the answer. Wearing a pair of shoes for 1 hours of padel, 30 times a week, no. If there's a real problem, you need to wear the insoles all week.
If, on the other hand, we are looking for comfort during sport (foot fatigue, muscle fatigue, etc.), in this case there will be an insole for practicing sport.

To support this a little, a salesperson who wears city shoes (or loafers), a construction worker who wears safety shoes or a person who regularly wears heels will not have the same sole as when they play padel.

With or without a doctor's prescription, don't hesitate to consult a podiatrist!

One last word perhaps?

The feet are subjected to a lot of pressure in padel: rubbing, jumping, rotations. Additional preventative work with a physiotherapist can be very constructive in order to work the foot, intrinsic muscles (flexors, plantar quadratus).

Equip yourself with a shoe designed for playing padel to minimize the risk of injury.

Remi Collat

The founder of the agency La Toupie Bleue offers themes on padel courses and holidays in Europe. The padel holiday specialist does not hesitate to give us his opinion on these themes.

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