What to know about sports physiotherapy in padel players

Padel combines repeated serves, overhead shots, rapid changes of direction, lunges, and frequent rotation through the trunk. A sports physiotherapist may examine your painful area alongside ankle, hip, trunk, shoulder, and wrist movement. They can look at strength, balance, timing, workload, footwear, racket grip, and technique. The plan may include education, mobility work, progressive strengthening, balance drills, and practice of sport-specific movements.

The goal is not simply to reduce discomfort during one session. It is to improve how your body handles the demands of training and matches, while identifying habits that may keep irritating a tendon, muscle, or joint.

Keep a simple record of when symptoms appear: during serving, after a long rally, or later that day. Share changes in match frequency, training intensity, sleep, and recovery. Warm up with easy movement before harder hitting, and increase drills gradually after a break. Follow the exercises you are given, using the prescribed effort and technique rather than adding extra resistance on a good day.

You may be able to practise modified strokes or footwork while avoiding the movement that provokes symptoms. A physiotherapist can help set limits and test readiness for full play, including repeated swings, lateral movement, and recovery between efforts.

Arrange an assessment if pain keeps returning, changes your swing, causes weakness, or remains after rest from play. Seek prompt medical care after a fall or direct blow if the joint looks deformed, swelling rises quickly, you cannot use the arm or leg, or you have numbness. During exercise, stop and seek urgent help for chest pain, severe breathlessness, fainting, or sudden one-sided weakness.

Which movement or tissue is most likely being overloaded? What can I continue practising while symptoms settle? Which exercises should come first, and how will we progress them? What signs show that I am ready for a full padel match? Could my racket, grip, footwear, warm-up, or weekly schedule be contributing?