A 2 minute read, written in August 2026 and read over again on 10 October 2026
Padel elbow, sore shoulders and the other injuries: why they happen and how to stop them
Padel has an injury profile all its own: elbows from the volley, shoulders from the overhead, calves from the stop-start, and eyes from the ball that comes off the glass. Most of it is preventable and most of it starts with the racket.
The elbow
Lateral epicondylitis, tennis elbow, is the padel injury. It comes from vibration and from gripping too hard, and the volley is the shot that causes it, because you hit hundreds of them with a stiff wrist and no swing to absorb the shock. Three things fix most cases. The racket: a soft core, a round or teardrop shape, a balance in the hand and a weight under 365 grams. Hard-core diamond rackets are a leading cause. The grip: one that is too thin makes you squeeze, so add an overgrip until your fingertips no longer reach your palm. The swing: contact out in front with a relaxed hand, tightening only at impact. If it already hurts, rest it properly for two weeks, change the racket, and come back with half the volume. Playing through it turns three weeks into six months.
The shoulder
The bandeja and the smash are overhead shots hit dozens of times a match, often late and behind the head. A shoulder that hurts after playing is usually a shoulder hitting overheads from the wrong position. Move back earlier on the lob so the contact is in front of you. Warm the shoulder up before the first overhead of the day with twenty slow shadow swings. And if the weight of your racket makes the head drop when you hold it in the ready position, it is too head-heavy for your shoulder, whatever it does for your smash.
Calves and the Achilles
Padel is short sprints, sudden stops and a lot of small lateral steps on a hard surface, in a player population that is often over forty and came from an office. The calf strain and the Achilles tear are the injuries that end seasons. Warm up for ten minutes before the first ball, not the first game. Wear padel or clay-court shoes with a herringbone sole, not running shoes, which grip too much and roll the ankle. And do not play three days in a row when you have just started.
Your call
They have a comfortable smash and you are defending at the back. What are you actually trying to do?
You are not trying to win this ball. You are trying to still be in the point two shots from now.
Eyes
The ball comes off the glass unpredictably and at head height, and a partner's smash can find your face. Eye injuries are rarer than the others and far worse. Protective glasses are common in Spain and Argentina at every level and there is no good reason not to wear them, particularly on the left side where you are facing your partner's overhead.
The knees and the back
Low volleys and balls off the glass ask you to bend at the knees, and players who bend at the waist instead spend the drive home with a sore back. Get lower with the legs. Knees suffer from the same stop-start as the calves and from playing through fatigue, when the footwork gets lazy and the joints take the load the muscles should.
The rule of thumb
If it hurts during play, stop. If it hurts the next morning, change something: the racket, the grip, the warm-up, the volume. If it hurts for two weeks, see a physio who knows racket sports. Padel is a game you can play until you are eighty, and the people who do are the ones who took the sore elbow seriously the first time.