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We are often asked about the importance of wearing an ankle brace or ankle support for tennis or other court sports. There are usually two groups of people:
1. Those that have never sprained their ankle
2. Those that have sprained their ankle in the past
For those of you in the group that have never sprained your ankle the only reason you'd consider wearing an ankle brace is for prevention. So is worth strapping on an ankle brace just as a precautionary measure? To you I say yes. It only takes one ankle sprain to make you more suceptable to ankle sprains in the future. In other words, the more you sprain your ankle the more you will sprain your ankle.
Need further proof? Watch this video of pro player Tatiana Golovin who is playing Maria Sharapova. Be warned this is a graphic depiction of a professional athlete spraining their ankle.
Now that you've seen the video of an ankle sprain you should be convinced you might want to get a pair of ankle braces. Note we recommend wearing braces on both ankles even if you only have issues in one of them. You want to be balanced and protect your good ankle as well.
So which ankle brace is best for tennis?
All around ankle stability:
DonJoy Stabilizing Ankle Brace - Lightweight, good stability, slim fit - very similar to if not a tad better than the popular ASO ankle brace used by a lot of tennis players.
Kallassy Ankle Brace -Worn by a lot of pros including Michael Chang - Made from a sock of neoprene, but very comfortable. Similar feeling to an athletic tape job.
For Extra ankle stability -
DonJoy Velocity Ankle Brace - This brace is truly the sturdiest brace on most comfortable brace on the market. It is a bit bulkier than some fo the softer braces listed above, but slimmer than all the other hard shell ankle braces on the market. If you are suceptable to ankle injuries you need this brace - DonJoy did a great job on this one.
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