How do triathletes and tennis players work on the ankle flexibility?
Former Member
While I keep working on increasing my ankle flexibility, I recently read in an article that ankle flexibility comes at the cost of ankle instability (= higher propensity for ankle sprain), which spells trouble for runners and tennis players.
Tennis being my other favorite sport, this puts me in a dilemma.
Are there master swimmers out there who also maintain competitiveness in tennis or running, or is this a "you can't have a cake and eat it too" situation?
I am hoping that I can become competitive in swimming with ankles that are stable (read rigid in swimming) enough for tennis as well.
Parents
Former Member
... I recently read in an article that ankle flexibility comes at the cost of ankle instability (= higher propensity for ankle sprain)....
I’m not sure that I’d agree with that, but what do I know. :-|
See my reply to your leg buoyancy post regarding the standing/balancing exercise that helps to strengthen the ankles, and help keep them flexible.
Most kicking advice that I’ve heard is that you want the ankles “loose”. I’ve seen some posts regarding the lack of ankle flexibility being a problem (like this one on “Aquabrakes”). In the American Red Cross (ARC) Swimming and Water Safety manual (which includes stroke technique) a part of the propulsion portion of the front crawl kick is described as being “when the foot snaps downward”. I can’t imagine doing the flutter kick with the ankle locked solid. The whip kick in breaststroke requires a LOT of ankle flexibility and strength.
I’d say keep on keeping on with your ankle flexibility regimen.
I would think the bigger problem for runners and tennis players would be the beating your joints (especially the ankles) take from all the pounding after the repeated impacts. Swimming is fairly low impact. Open Water (OW) swimming is pretty much zero impact (except that I hear you collide with other swimmers in OW competitions).
...
... I recently read in an article that ankle flexibility comes at the cost of ankle instability (= higher propensity for ankle sprain)....
I’m not sure that I’d agree with that, but what do I know. :-|
See my reply to your leg buoyancy post regarding the standing/balancing exercise that helps to strengthen the ankles, and help keep them flexible.
Most kicking advice that I’ve heard is that you want the ankles “loose”. I’ve seen some posts regarding the lack of ankle flexibility being a problem (like this one on “Aquabrakes”). In the American Red Cross (ARC) Swimming and Water Safety manual (which includes stroke technique) a part of the propulsion portion of the front crawl kick is described as being “when the foot snaps downward”. I can’t imagine doing the flutter kick with the ankle locked solid. The whip kick in breaststroke requires a LOT of ankle flexibility and strength.
I’d say keep on keeping on with your ankle flexibility regimen.
I would think the bigger problem for runners and tennis players would be the beating your joints (especially the ankles) take from all the pounding after the repeated impacts. Swimming is fairly low impact. Open Water (OW) swimming is pretty much zero impact (except that I hear you collide with other swimmers in OW competitions).
...
