Objective: To describe the injury rate and profiles of injuries sustained by recreational padel players, reporting time-loss and identifying player- and padel-related factors associated.
Design: Cross-sectional survey-based retrospective study.
Setting: Belgian padel clubs.
Participants: Recreational adult padel players.
Main outcome measures: Players completed a questionnaire on lifestyle factors, sports-playing practices, injuries sustained over the year and time to recovery. Injury profiles by gender and location are described. Univariate and multivariate analyses identified factors associated with an increased likelihood of injury.
Results: In total, 457 players (66.1 % men) participated, with a median age of 42 years. Overall, 167 players (36.5 %) [95 %CI 32.3; 41.1] sustained 185 injuries over the previous year with an injury rate of 2.81/1000 h playing. Median time to recovery was 30 days (IQR 15-60). Lower limb injuries were most common (53.5 %). Independent factors associated with injuries were age over 30 years, insomnia, less padel-playing experience, playing position on the right, carrying out a warm-up, using an overgrip and not playing another racket sport.
Conclusions: The incidence and profiles of padel injuries are similar to those observed in other studies. Female gender was not associated with higher injury risk. Other player- and padel-associated factors require further investigation to determine causality.