Padel Injury Prevention: The Gym Work That Keeps You On Court

How often padel players actually get hurt

Padel is easy on the joints compared with running, but it is not injury-free. A cross-sectional study of amateur players found an injury prevalence of about 53.8%, with reported ranges across studies of 40% to 95%, and an incidence of roughly three injuries for every 1,000 hours on court. In that study the most commonly injured areas were the ankle and foot (18.5%), the shoulder and upper arm (15.2%), the elbow and forearm (15.2%) and the knee (13.6%). Some systematic reviews put the elbow top of the list instead — the exact order shifts between studies, but the pattern is consistent: these are mostly tendon and muscle strains from repetition, not dramatic impact injuries. That is exactly the kind of problem strength work prevents.

The shoulder work that saves your serve

The overhead smash and the constant flick of the wrist load the shoulder hard, which is why it sits near the top of every padel injury list. The fix is to strengthen the rotator cuff and the muscles that control the shoulder blade. Physiotherapists recommend external and internal rotations with a resistance band, band rows for the back of the shoulder, and scapular-control moves such as serratus wall slides — a routine of around ten minutes twice a week is enough to make a real difference. The AAOS publishes a full rotator cuff and shoulder conditioning programme along the same lines. If you already have shoulder pain, get it looked at by a physiotherapist before you load it — prehab is for prevention, not for treating an existing injury. Learning to do each move properly in the exercise library beats guessing at form.

Hips and core: where padel's twist lives

Every padel shot is a rotation, and rotation without control lands on your lower back. Building a strong, stable core protects it. The classics do the job: planks for endurance, bird dogs for control, and dead bugs to teach your trunk to stay solid while your limbs move. Add some hip mobility so the rotation comes from where it should. A weekly core or mobility class is an easy way to keep this consistent.

Ankles: balance beats bracing

Because the ankle and foot top the injury table, this is the area most players ignore and most regret ignoring. Padel's quick stops, lunges and changes of direction ask a lot of the ankle. Two things protect it: balance work — single-leg stands, then a wobble board — to sharpen the proprioception that catches you before a roll, and strengthening the peroneal muscles down the outside of the lower leg that stabilise the joint. Footwork and agility drills train the same system while you play.

A simple weekly prehab plan

You do not need hours. Two short gym sessions plus a warm-up before you play covers it.

Common questions from padel players

How long before this helps?

Strength and balance adapt over weeks, not days. Give it four to six consistent weeks and you should feel steadier on your ankles and stronger overhead. Consistency matters far more than intensity here.

My elbow hurts already — what should I do?

Ongoing elbow pain is common enough in racket sports to have its own name, but it is not something to self-diagnose or push through. See a physiotherapist or doctor, and use prehab to protect the joint once you are cleared — a few sessions with a personal trainer can help you load it safely.

Put in the gym work near you

Padel keeps you coming back; the gym work is what keeps you able to. Find your nearest GymNation gym in Dubai and build the shoulders, core and ankles your game leans on every single point.

Sources:
pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
orthoinfo.org
central-health.com

The opinions shared in the GymNation blog articles are solely those of the respective authors and may not represent the perspectives of GymNation or any member of the GymNation team.