Background and Purpose: Previous studies suggest that both acute and overuse injuries seem to be quite common in middle-aged recreational padel players [1, 2]. Yet, research is limited interms of injury panorama in youth padel players. Thus, this pilot study aimed to investigate the injury prevalence of acute and overuse injuries and training load in youth padel athletes at Swedish sport high school.
Methods: 22 youth padel players (23% females) reported on weekly basis their hours of training and games and all time-loss injuries occurring during sport activity. Details on other training regimes were also recorded. Players estimated the relative impact of the overuse problems, on pain, sport participation, and performance, on a scale from 0 to 25 points for each body region which were summed in order to calculate a severity score yielding a maximum total score of 100 for each overuse problem.
Results: Total training hours was 11 (±5) h/week whereas the mean time of specific padel training was 8 (±4). All players took part in strength and conditioning training. Most (91%) players performed strength training, 50% running, 41% interval training and19% plyometric. Four players were also engaged in other sports; soccer, dancing and gymnastic. A total of 6 acute injuries were recorded; 1 ligament injury to the shoulder,1 finger sprain, 1 hamstring strain, 2 ankle sprain and 1 fracture to the foot. A total of 23 overuse problems were registered with a severity score ranging from 8 to 28.
Conclusion: The findings indicate that the training load is relatively high in youth padel athletes at Swedish sport senior high school. The results also suggest that both acute and overuse injuries are present, but that the relative impact of the overuse problems seem to be of minor extent.
2023.
STMS 2023 World Congress in Tennis Medicine and Science: "Back to the Future", Palma, Mallorca, Spain, October 6-7, 2023