What is the Best Tape for Ankle Strapping?

When you’re ankle strapping you need to choose an ankle tape with a high tensile strength and no stretch. There’s nothing more frustrating to a player than them rolling their ankle when it was supposed to have been taped up securely.

Zinc Oxide Tape is the best choice for ankle strapping. It is a non-stretch tape that provides unrivalled support. Choose the Tan/Brown version for the highest tensile strength. Zinc Oxide Tapes can also be ripped by hand. This will make your applications faster and get your player off the treatment bed in record time.

Taping the ankle is common in all sport that require a lot of lateral movement; such as netball, basketball, hockey and snowboarding. Strapping the ankle with a Zinc Oxide Tape prevents the ankle from rolling inwards. This'll also provide additional support to the foot when performing quick changes of direction.

Let's take a closer look at exactly what Zinc Oxide Tape is.

Zinc Oxide Tape is the only choice if you need to immobilise an area. It is a non-stretch tape that provides unrivalled support.

Choose the Tan/Brown version for its highest tensile strength. Because of it’s tensile strength, the most common use of Zinc Oxide Tape is to support joints such as the ankle, knee and shoulder. You won’t usually see it on show though – it’s usually hidden by a sock or jersey.

Now that we have that, let's take a deeper look into strapping. How can we perfect our applications?

There are a lot of different tapes available. How do you know what the best option is? Like choosing between Ronaldo and Messi, it can often be a toss-up. Doing some research beforehand to understand what each individual strapping tape can do will make your decision making process far quicker! 

Taping doesn’t have to be rocket science, but does require a bit of common sense. Think about your positioning, and get into the right position before you tape. If you’re trying to prevent a particular movement, tape in a way that restricts that movement. If it hurts laterally, tape it medially. Strapping is all about thinking.

Most of the tapes you’re going to be using can be ripped by hand, so put the scissors away and get practicing. It'll make your life a lot easier and make taping a lot faster in the long run. Plus, it means your strapping applications looks slick to everyone around you.

Sorry lads, but hair and tape really don’t mix. You need a good surface area to stick the tape to otherwise it will be peeling before you even put your shirt on! A quick trim can make a huge difference. Then on those super-sweaty areas, use a Pre-Tape Spray to make sure that tour strapping tapes stay on for the whole game.

Always do a quick circulation test before using strapping tapes, as it’s really easy to tape them too tightly. All you need to do is pinch the area, and check whether the colour comes back within 2 seconds. If so, you’re good to go. If it feels restrictive then just remove the tape and start again. It’s that simple.

Kinesiology Tape can also be used to support the ankle. It’s perfect if you still need to maintain a level of flexibility through the ankle joint. K Taping will aid proprioception if your athlete needs a neural response to correct their ankle positioning. Plus it will not restrict movement.

K Tape is a stretchy, cotton (or synthetic) tape designed to mimic the elasticity of the skin. It’s used by athletes and therapists worldwide to provide proprioceptive feedback, pain relief and support to joints, muscles and tendons.

And that's it! That's what tapes you need to be looking at using for your ankle strap applications. If you have any further questions about anything we've discussed, get in touch! We'd love to help.