Incidence of Upper Body Injuries in Amateur Padel Players

Abstract

The objectives of this study were to analyze the injuries suffered during the previous year by amateur padel players according to the characteristics of the racket, their usual volume of practice and their experience in padel. A total of 950 amateur players (X age: 31.68 years; X weight: 70.84 kg; X height: 170.9 cm) participated voluntarily, completing an ad-hoc questionnaire. The results indicated that the appearance of the injuries and their location was different according to the sex of the amateur padel players. Men had a higher incidence of muscle and ligament injuries in the shoulder, and tendon injuries in the elbow. On the other hand, women had a greater probability of having muscle injuries in the shoulder and arm, ligament injuries in the elbow and bone injuries in the wrist and elbow. In general, tendon injuries were the most common injury in padel and the shoulder and elbow were the most affected areas. Moreover, men tend to use heavy (CSR = 6.0), fiberglass or carbon (CSR = 2.1), diamond-shaped rackets (CSR = 3.2), with a hard core (CSR = 4.4) and with two or more over grips (CSR = 2.7). Women usually use less heavy (CSR = 6.0), round-shaped rackets (CSR = 4.9), with a soft core (CSR = 4.4) and with one or no over grips (CSR = 2.7). In addition, men tend to play padel more often and have been practicing for longer. In conclusion, although the risk of injury depends on many factors, we identified that the characteristics of the racket, the volume of weekly practice, the experience of the player and the gender of the player are fundamental aspects to take into account for the prevention of injuries in amateur padel players.

Keywords: health; prevention; racket sports; rackets; sex.