Hi I'm a new user to this forum. I've just started playing badminton and find it to be very invigorating. Unfortunately several months ago I sprained my ankle and it is still a little ginger and prone to roll a bit when i play. I was wondering if anyone had any advice on preventative ankle braces to use during play. I've seen some suggestions on Active Ankles (activeankle.com) and aircast (aircast.com) but wanted to know if anyone here had experience w/ these or other types of braces. I'm primarily looking to support lateral movement of my ankle i think. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Anton
I personally use Active Ankle for most basketball and badminton. I find it comfy and I have no problem with it at all. But keep in mind that Active Ankle braces are quite big with the two pieces of plasitc mold and it stretches out your shoe quite a bit. If you forget to wear your brace and wear your trainers, chances are that you will end up spraining your ankle. Aircast seems to be a bit big and some what not all that good for sports. The other popular ankle brace is the laceup kind. ASO is very commonly used in almost all sports. I personally do'nt like thet laceup kind, it just feels bad but I know a lot of people who uses it. Even Andy Roddick uses it if I'm not wrong. I rarely see badminton players wear ankle braces compare to Basketball and Volleyball. Is it just me or badminton players don't like to wear it? I hope this helps you!
I used to play basketball, volleyball and tennis and always wore ankle braces because I twisted/sprang/tore both my ankles many times over. I figured playing badminton, which is even more intensive, I would need ankle braces. But what I found out was, the combination of (badminton vs. all other sports) better shoes, better playing surfaces, and dare I say better footwork, I don't roll my ankles at all and have not used any type of ankle protection.
This is good. I was going to start a thread asking about ankle braces. When I was younger, I never had ankle problems with any sport. All it takes is one ankle injury and then your ankle becomes weaker. I used to wear those chinese Baiky shoes and never had problems for years. Our body changes and one day I rolled on my ankle. People say it was the shoes which did not have any ankle support, but I knew that theory was just bull. I didn't play for a long time after that - something like 4 years. Started playing again with SHB99s. Was going well, no injuries for 8 months. Then it happened again. Roll on it. No reason, not bad footwork, not off balance. So now I am in search of a good comfortable ankle brace too.
You may want to try the Super Feet Performance Green insole. It claims to improve your footing and I agree. Since I've been using these insoles, I notice my footing has improved tremendously. I also wear SHB-99s.
hi, thanks for some of your responses. i'll probably try some of the laceup ones then, since the hinge-stirrup braces do seem a little large. this is a very useful topic though and i hope more people chimi in on their experience. once i get some rounds in w/ my brace i'll let people know how it is. it's possible my problems were due to poor shoes as well. i'll be looking to getting shoes more suited to badminton immediately.
Sure: http://www.superfeet.com/content/index.html You may want to check out eBay, I bought a few pairs for 40% off the normal retail price.
I personally use active ankles for volleyball, but dont seem to need them for badminton or basketball. Whenever I play volleyball without them though my ankles kill and im very prone to rolling them. I love the braces, dont really remember they're on. Just one suggestion, if you get them, wear sock up to about the top or you might get a rash / irritated skin from the cusion things.
I dont so much wear a brace, but an ankle supporter. Its just basically a thin moulding of material (a little elastic), that you just slide your ankle in. It stops your ankle from twisting too much, and is just like wearing a sock (with no toe coverage though), so very lightweight.
get ASO, it's a good one http://images.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://www.ortho-net.com/images/aso/aso-ankle-bg.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.ortho-net.com/aso/aso-ankle-brace1.htm&h=231&w=250&sz=10&tbnid=VHd68CsXj_qJaM:&tbnh=97&tbnw=106&hl=en&start=7&prev=/images%3Fq%3Daso%2Bankle%2Bbrace%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26safe%3Doff%26sa%3DN
I swear by active ankle!!!! It alowed me to play a competiton after not walking for a week after trying a jump smash and landing on the outside ankle bone, played a blinder as well but please do watch if you are using one of these as you can become far to reliant on it as it will not allow you to roll over becasue of the joint mechanism do have to say i did have to take 6 months out to heal and the things are £40-60 depending on what one you go for. And you do have to wear a longer sock as you will get a rash from the foam protectors when your lower leg sweats. Do not let this replace the proper healing process as it will give you a false sense of your ankle being better than it actually is.
I'm beginning to think I need an ankle brace, as well. I try to hike 25 miles a week and I also play badminton 5 days a week and I believe it is taking its toll on the right top half of my ankle. It really feels like a grinding annoyance, yet it's painful. My hiking partner who joins me on about half of my miles, wears a brace but doesn't remember where he got it. I need some advice on a good brace. I have come across a website that sells ankle support but I would like a review before I look into it further. If anyone has used them, please let me know! Playing badminton 5 days a week and doing all that hiking is really taking it's toll. Thanks for the advice.
I have been using this German product, Bauerfeind for over a year now and they are excellent and really does the job. Their price is on their premium side but the quality and effectiveness of their product is worth every penny. They are both athletic and medical products prescribed by medical practitioners. Check out their site: http://www.bauerfeindusa.com/html_gb/aktuelles_news.php4