Warriors Tom Abdenour Discusses Ankle Injuries

Tom,
I want to strengthen my ankles to prevent further ankle injuries...how can I achieve this? Also I want to work on lateral movement, what areas of my body should I strengthen and I can I strengthen this?
Sean from Pinole

Ankle sprains are very common in basketball. Oft times a player will sprain the ankle by stepping on another player's foot or landing inappropriately from a jump. Here are some essentials for Sean as well as all others who are interested in the basic rehabilitation of an ankle sprain:

The initial element to be assured of is that there is no fracture or instability. Obviously this would involve a visit to a physician for an x-ray and examination. Once these have been established, you are ready to go.

Flexibility:
This is the first step back. The Achilles tendon area in the back of the ankle will stiffen up and make walking a little tough. There are many stretches for this area, such as leaning into a wall and keeping your foot flat on the floor, or standing with your heel off the edge of a step and letting it gradually drop down. Each of these are efficient and can be done two or three times every day for 10-20 seconds each. Also, making diagonal patterns with the ankle is a good way to stretch it out. We have our players make 10 circles both clockwise and counterclockwise and write the letters of the alphabet with their foot and ankle. It's kind of neat how well the ankle feels after that. All of these exercises are to be done slowly and there should be no pain associated with them.

Strength:
Once most of the flexibility comes back, the strength work can start. The ankle moves in four general directions: up, down, to the inside, and to the outside. It needs to be strengthened in each of these directions. As with the flexibility exercises, the strength work should be done without pain. An easy method of strength work is with manual resistance. You can use your hand or someone else's hand to apply a slight resistance while the ankle is moving in these directions. The resistance should be firm enough to require about 2 seconds for each movement to be complete. Each of these should be done in 3 sets of 10 repetitions daily; if there is pain or non-tolerable soreness with the movement, then wait until the next day.

Another ankle strength exercise is the towel drag and it is easy and efficient. You will need a smooth floor and a large bath towel. If your pain is on the outside of the ankle, stretch the towel out and place it by you opposite foot. Put the edge of your injured foot on the edge of the towel, and rotate your ankle sideways. This should cause the towel to "drag" from one side of your body to the other. Try this daily 5 times.

When you think your ankle is as strong as it should be, test the strength in the opposite ankle and see how they compare.

Balance:
An important element of restoring an injured ankle is regaining one's balance. This is kind of fun to do. About the same time that you start your strength work, begin your balance work. Try to stand on your bad foot alone, with your hands on your hips and without wearing a shoe. This might be a challenge initially, but the more you do it the easier it becomes. Your goal would be to do this for 20 to 30 seconds 3 times per day. Once you have mastered this, try the same thing but this time, close your eyes!!! That will make a huge difference in the amount that you are challenged. Your goal now will be to do this for 20 seconds daily. If you can do it more than once a day, that would be fine.

Power:
The final element of this rehabilitation outline is power development. A simple and easy exercise is jumping rope. There are all sorts of different time sequences that you can use, but keep it simple. Start the rope jumping when you think the ankle has pretty good strength. Initially, use both feet and build up to one foot. Start with about 30 seconds at a time and build up to a minute. The body will also adapt to simple jumping repetitively. If you are in a basketball gym, try to jump as high as you can for 15 times, then rest, and do it again for another 15. If you can go sideways, try to jump from side to side, much like an ice skater would move. Try this after you are strong enough and try to get in 2 sets of 15 repetitions.

After you finish your work for that time, be sure to get some ice on it. A cold compress for 15-20 minutes will help minimize the chance for any swelling or pain that resulted from the exercises.

Good luck.