Minimize Ankle Sprains & Improve Ankle Stability in Athletes

Ankle injuries are unfortunately very common for athletes of nearly all sports. This is due to the fact the lateral (outside) ligaments of the ankle are weaker and more exposed to overstretching and tearing during inward rolling. While most ankle sprains occur on the outside due to its vulnerability, spraining the inside or top of the ankle, also known as a high ankle sprain, can happen and requires even more rehabilitation and recovery time. Sports in particular place significant stress on the ankle through pivoting, jumping, changing direction, and contact. Additionally, the wrong footwear can lead to more frequent or worse ankle sprains or tears.

Now that we understand why ankle sprains occur, let’s discuss how to prevent or minimize ankle sprains and improve ankle stability. In order to create stability in the ankle, it requires:

• Strength building exercises

  • Calf raises & single leg calf raises

  • Resistance band exercises (band around feet resisting in various directions)

  • Toe raises

• Balance training - combines instability training and strength training, helping either prevent, minimize, or rehabilitate ankle sprains

  • Standing on one leg progressing to eyes closed or on unstable surfaces

  • Bosu Ball or Stability Disc Balancing

    • Front Lunges

    • Lateral Lunges

    • Single Leg RDL

    • Dome side down bosu ball squat

• Agility & plyometric drills - only if the ankle is uninjured or healed from an injury this helps to train the ankle to handle the movements & unpredictability of sports. 

  • Ladder

  • Single Leg Hops

  • Box Jump Variations

  • Depth Drops

  • Mixed Agility Drills (Cutting, Pivoting, Change of Direction)

While many athletes wait to do these exercises until it's for rehabilitating an ankle sprain, it is crucial to begin these exercises in advance as injury prevention. Of course, sports are unpredictable, and injuries are inevitable, but by doing these exercises preemptively, you not only minimize the frequency of injury, but you also prepare your ankle to recover from injury more quickly and efficiently. If you have injured your ankle recently or in the past, these are a few recommendations I have besides the exercises above. L.E.S.S. is the best way to lessen the recovery time, lessen the likelihood of reinjuring, and lessen the damage to the rest of your body from it:

• Limit - Another recommendation is to not overuse and grow reliant on ankle braces and tape. Oftentimes athletes use a brace or tape to add compression and stabilize the injury to continue playing or moving in, however continued use long term can result in further weakening the ankle. This makes you much more susceptible to re-injuring it because you are not training and allowing the ankle to regain strength and stability but instead making it dependent on the brace for any stability. 

• Ease - any exercises you do to rehabilitate your injury or ease back into your sport require exactly that, ease

• Slow - Steady, slow progress is important to heal and return to your sport with less risk of re-injury.

• Strength - Strengthening the ankle, as well as the muscles around it, help speed up the recovery and prevent further injuries. Without strength, our body will naturally begin compensating for an injury through other muscles, altering body mechanics, or locking up and guarding the injured side or area. This can lead to numerous other problems, pains, injuries, etc so it's crucial to avoid this through strength training and correcting any altered or unhealthy body mechanics.  

In sum, to minimize ankle injuries, recover your ankle from injuries, and build strength and stability in your ankle, it requires consistent injury prevention training beginning as soon as possible. Putting in the work now will help keep you out there playing your sport.