Author(s): ARRIAZA, R., HERNÁNDEZ VÁZQUEZ, C., FERNÁNDEZ ROMERO, J.J. , Institution: UNIVERSITY OF A CORUÑA, Country: SPAIN, Abstract-ID: 2461

INTRODUCTION:
Padel is considered as the fastest-growing sport in the world. It is considered to have over 25 million players across 110 countries. Female players make up 37.5% of recreational players and 54% of padel players are 26 years old and above. It is fun, and easy to play, which makes it very attractive for people who either has never practiced sport or who quit sport long time ago and consider it as a sport without risk of injury or physical requirements. The study from Sánchez-Alcaraz (2021) showed that the total time of a match is approximately 90 minutes, while the actual playing time is slightly over 30% of the total playtime). Regarding movement analysis, the distance covered is about 2000 meters per match, although this can vary depending on the match duration and player level
There is a lack of knowledge about the injuries and injury prevention habits of amateur padel players.
METHODS:
A survey was conducted with 105 amateur paddle players, who play between 1 and 3 matches of 90 minutes duration per week and compete at a low level, about their warm-up and injury prevention habits, in order to understand the reality of the sport among regular, non-professional practitioners. There were 31 male and 74 female players.
RESULTS:
46 respondents declared that they practiced also other sporting activity other than padel. Only 53 players declared that they performed some kind of warming up. The duration of the warm-up was 10 minutes or less (in one case, “one minute”), and mostly in the court, practicing different types of shots, in 32 cases; 10-15 minutes in 14 cases; and more than 15 minutes in 7 cases.
The players reported a total of 69 injuries, most of them in the lower limbs (35), and more frequently triceps surae injuries and ankle ligament sprains, followed by elbow tendinopathies (17). There were only 5 shoulder injuries (4 tendinopathies and one clavicle fracture due to a fall). There were 6 fractures (5 of them due to falls and one due to the impact of the partner’s racquet in the face). In 50 cases, the injured players required more than 21 days to return to sport, and in 14 cases the injuries recurred.

CONCLUSION:
Even while the frequency of the triceps surae and ankle ligament injuries is high in amateur padel tennis players, their warming-up and injury prevention habits should improve, as only 50% of the survey respondents include them into their sport protocols