Volleyball Ankle Braces?
Jan.29, 2010 in
Foot & Ankle Brace
I am in 8th grade and playing in a traveling volleyball club. My coach has assigned me as a middle hitter/blocker. I have landed on someones foot after blocking in a match and i have rolled my ankle in practice before but have never seriously injured my ankles. Would active ankle braces help myself as not to injure myself? If so where can i get some that aren’t to terribly expensive.
January 29th, 2010 at 8:48 pm
ankle braces would help because if you roll on your ankle once you are more likely to have a severe ankle injury later. You can get them at any sports equipment supplier or sometimes a doctor sells ankle braces. They are usually around $30-$45.
January 29th, 2010 at 8:48 pm
I have rolled my ankle a few times but I do not wear ankle braces (That was in grade 9 and I’m 11th grade now)
I don’t want to rely on ankle braces as your ankles will never regain any strength. Until my ankle recovered I had my ankle taped and I iced it frequently, but I haven’t had any problems since then.
But it’s up to you if you really want to wear them… for my personally I can buy them at my club or probably the internet but I’m not sure about prices.. depends the strength you need
January 29th, 2010 at 8:48 pm
I have played volleyball for a little while and i had ankle problems. Ankle braces will help your ankles and you should also ice them twice a day for 10-15 minutes if they are hurting. Ankle braces can be bought at sports authority or dick’s sporting goods or mcdavid makes a good ankle brace. Here are three websites where these can be found at:
http://mcdavidusa.com (mcdavid store)
http://dickssportinggoods.com (dick’s sporting goods online store)
http://sportsauthority.com (sports authority’s online store)
January 29th, 2010 at 8:48 pm
Get active ankles.
January 29th, 2010 at 8:48 pm
ankle braces do not build up the strength of your own ankles. Also, if you were to twist your ankle with them on, of course your ankle would get hurt, but all that stress is put into your knees. Which for some people is a bigger issue.
That’s why when if i wear a preventive brace i go for a softer one, with no rigid support in it, so that my knee doesn’t need surgery again.
Active ankles work but a re fairly expensive. A viable alternative are lace up ankle braces, which i feel provide the same support and protection, but take a little longer to take on and off. They can be found in sports store, and also a drug store or pharmacy.
January 29th, 2010 at 8:48 pm
The velcro plastic Active ankles are not good for your ankles because they weaken them and can cause you to have more of a chance to have injury. The better ones are the fabric tie up ones, because they protect your ankles without fully supporting them which causes them to be more weak. I have the tie ones and they are very comfortable and they prevent injuries more than the plastic Active Ankles. More USA volleyball players are switching to the others ones too! You can pretty much get them at any sports store. But I ordered mine so they would have a better value. But if your looking for a cheap price i’d recommend just looking at the store.
-Good Luck
January 29th, 2010 at 8:48 pm
active ankles are honestly the best. they are definitely going to help prevent many injuries for the future. i would recommend them no matter what the cost is ; they are a lot less more money than what you will have to pay if you get a serious injury and arent able to play anymore.
January 29th, 2010 at 8:48 pm
active ankle are more precautionary then anything else, but personally i feel the way to go if you are going to wear ankle braces is to get the ones that lace up.
i have also heard though, that ankle braces really weaken your ankles and that through not wearing them, your ankles become stronger and thus less prone to injuries.
so my advice is to only wear an ankle brace if you have already injured yourself because your ankle will never be the same again but if you are just wearing them for protection i say dont
January 29th, 2010 at 8:48 pm
No don’t get them, then your ankles don’t strengthen
January 29th, 2010 at 8:48 pm
ASO are the best brand.
January 29th, 2010 at 8:48 pm
i play on a vb team for my high school and my coach made is mandatory for us to have them so yeah maybe if you ankles aren’t good you should always have them.. they are a lil pricey but i would suggest you get some kind if Velcro ones instead of ties i have ties and they were a pain to tie on and off and stuff so try to go for those
January 29th, 2010 at 8:48 pm
I am not a fan of ankle braces for players who are not recovering from a recent ankle injury. In my experience, they slow players down and actually weaken the joint. I had a feeling about this, so I timed some of my players doing simple drills, such as a blocking Figure 8 and 4 approaches, and found that they were all at least 10% slower — a couple as much as 25% slower — with the braces on.
About the only times I think they’re OK is when a very experienced player is involved in a game/practice with inexperienced players who would get in the experienced player’s way and cause an injury due to ineptitude. Or when a player is OK’d to get back in the game after an ankle injury and wants to wear an ankle brace to help with confidence. In those cases, the player wouldn’t be going all-out anyway, so being slowed down by an ankle brace wouldn’t be the end of the world.
It would be better to do some strengthening work to prevent ankle injuries in the first place. Do lots of one-legged work, such as one-legged squats, box jumps, and dead lifts. Then progress to one-legged exercises on unstable surfaces, such as wobble boards or foam pads. These exercises will help you build your own internal ankle braces, without having to strap on a contraption that will slow you down.
If you go for Active Ankles, keep in mind that they need to be replaced every so often if you wear them regularly, and they’re fairly expensive. I think softer lace-up braces are better though.