Objectives: The literature is scarce in terms of injury panorama and risk factors in padel. Thus, the aims of this study were to investigate 1) injury occurrence, anatomical area and severity of acute injuries and overuse problems in women and men who regularly participate in padel; 2) relative impact of overuse problems; 3) intrinsic (age and sex) and extrinsic risk factors (equipment and environment).

Methods: Data for this observational study was collected retrospectively using an open online web-designed form. Injury data together with players’ characteristic and equipment were documented. Players also estimated the impact of the problems 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 125 for each overuse problem.

Results: 274 players (38% women) reported 663 injuries (111 acute injuries and 571 overuse problems) with a higher prevalence noted in men (2.67 injuries/player) compared to women (2.01 injuries/player). Most overuse problem were located in the knee (17.5%), elbow, lower back and foot/lower leg (16% respectively). Foot, ankle and lower leg problems had the greatest impact (median severity score = 45). No associations were found between injury and age (p=0.88). More hand problems were found in women using round and soft rackets whereas men using a hard racket had more hand problems. Of the overuse problems, 33% were associated with outdoor training/games whereas only 1% with indoor.

Conclusion: The findings suggests that both acute injury and overuse problem seem to be quite common in Swedish padel player and that different racket properties are related to various kinds of overuse problems in upper extremity, which affects women and men differently. The relative high impact of foot, ankle and lower leg problems suggests that injury prevention on lower extremity are warranted. 

Trial registration: Registered on 27/10/2021. NCT05111457.