Padel Injury Prevention Tips for Beginner Players
Nobody plays padel once. That is the problem.
You get talked into a Sunday session, you have a great time, and by week three you are checking court availability during meetings. Somewhere in that jump from zero sessions a week to four, your body gets left behind. This is why padel injury prevention matters most for beginners specifically. A study of 457 recreational players found that having less padel experience was independently linked to a higher chance of getting injured. The same research found roughly one in three players had picked up an injury in the past year, with a median recovery of 30 days. A month off court, and you only just started. Here is how to avoid that.
Understand what you are asking your body to do
Padel gets sold as an easy sport. Underarm serve, small court, low barrier to entry. All true, and all slightly misleading.
The walls keep the ball alive, so rallies are long. You are stopping, twisting, lunging and reaching overhead for two hours in Singapore humidity. Injury rates in padel sit alongside tennis and squash rather than below them, and the most common padel injuries affect everything from the elbow to the calf. None of that should put you off. It should just change how you prepare.
Warm up, but warm up properly
Here is a finding that raised eyebrows. In that survey of recreational players, doing a warm-up was actually associated with a higher injury rate.
Before you cancel your warm-up, consider what is probably going on. Players who already have niggles are more likely to warm up. Players who play harder and longer warm up more too. The warm-up is not causing the injuries. It is a marker of who is playing seriously. What matters is the quality. Five minutes of static hamstring stretches before a match does very little. A useful padel warm-up looks like this:
Raise the heart rate. Three to four minutes of jogging, skipping or shadow footwork on court.
Move the joints. Arm circles, trunk rotations, hip openers, ankle rocks.
Prepare the shoulder. Band external rotations and overhead reaches before you hit a single smash.
Add speed. A few side shuffles, split steps and short accelerations.
Build into the strokes. Start with soft ground strokes, then volleys, then overheads last.
The last point is the one beginners skip. Do not make the first bandeja of the day a full-power one.
Build up your playing hours gradually
If you take one thing from this article, take this. The strongest predictor of injury in padel research is not age or gender. It is load. Studies consistently show injury rates rising with more weekly hours and higher playing intensity. Beginners often go from nothing to three or four sessions a week within a month, because the sport is genuinely addictive and the group chat is relentless. A sensible approach for your first three months:
Start with one or two sessions a week
Add no more than one extra session per month
Keep at least one full rest day between sessions early on
Avoid back-to-back days until you have a few months behind you
Your cardiovascular fitness improves in weeks. Tendons and connective tissue take months. That mismatch is where most beginner injuries live.
Get your footwear right
Shoes are not a detail. More than half of padel injuries happen in the lower limb, and your shoes are the interface between you and the court.
Running shoes are the wrong tool. They are built for forward motion and offer very little lateral support, which is exactly what you need when you push sideways off the glass.
Look for padel-specific or court shoes with proper lateral stability. If you have rolled an ankle before, it is also worth knowing how to tape a sprained ankle safely for your first few sessions back. Research has also linked outsole patterns to injury type, with herringbone soles associated with more severe muscle, tendon and ligament injuries in some players. Ask at your club what suits the surface you play on most, and replace shoes when the tread flattens rather than when they look worn out.
Choose a racket that suits you, not the pros
Beginners routinely buy too much racket. Heavier paddles in the 350 to 370 gram range have been associated with higher rates of muscle and ligament injury.
Some guidance for a first racket:
Lighter is safer while you learn, generally in the 355 to 365 gram range or below
A round shape has a bigger sweet spot and forgives mishits
Soft foam absorbs more vibration, which protects your elbow
Get your grip size checked, because a grip that is too small makes you squeeze harder on every shot
Also watch how many overgrips you stack on. Overgrip use has shown up in the research as a factor associated with injury, most likely because it changes grip size and how tightly you hold the paddle.
Learn technique early rather than fixing it later
Lessons feel like an expense when you are just playing socially. They are one of the best padel injury prevention investments you can make. Two specific things matter most for beginners:
The backhand. Skilled players keep the wrist extended and stable through contact, which keeps load off the elbow tendon. Letting the wrist collapse is a direct route to padel elbow.
The bandeja. Power should come from your legs and trunk rotation, not from reaching up and slapping with the arm. Motion analysis has shown clear differences between experienced and amateur players in how the shoulder is loaded during strokes, which is why so many newer players end up with shoulder pain from padel.
A handful of coached sessions early will save you months of rehab later.
Do some strength work off the court
Padel alone will not make you strong enough for padel. Two short gym sessions a week cover most of the gap.
Focus on:
Calves. Heel raises, both double and single leg. Calf tears are common in players over 35.
Legs and hips. Squats, lunges and step-ups for knee control.
Rotator cuff and shoulder blade. Band work protects your overheads.
Grip and forearm. Wrist extension work protects your elbow.
Core and trunk rotation. This is what lets your legs power your shots instead of your arm.
Twenty minutes twice a week is enough to make a real difference.
Look after recovery, including your sleep
This one surprises people. In that survey of recreational players, insomnia was independently associated with a higher likelihood of injury. Another study found players with poorer overall wellness scores were more likely to be injured, and tendon injuries were linked to lower psychological readiness.
Recovery is not just stretching. It is sleep, hydration, food and managing the total load of your week. Playing padel at 10pm three nights a week while working full time is a load problem, even if each session feels fine.
Given Singapore's climate, hydration deserves a specific mention. Cramping and fatigue in the second hour make technique fall apart, and poor technique is when things go wrong.
Do not play through pain
The most useful padel injury prevention habit is also the simplest. Deal with small problems while they are small.
Get something checked if:
Pain lasts more than a couple of weeks
A niggle eases during play but hurts more the next morning
You are changing your technique to avoid discomfort
The same problem keeps coming back
That last one is the clearest signal that the underlying cause was never addressed.
Start well and you will play for years
Padel is worth doing properly. It is excellent for fitness, coordination and your social calendar, and the injury risk is manageable when you respect the ramp-up. Warm up with intent. Add hours slowly. Wear the right shoes, use a racket that suits your level, get a few lessons, and do a little strength work on the side.
If you would like a movement screening with a sports physiotherapist before you increase your playing hours, or if something is already niggling, book an appointment at iPhysio and we will build a plan that keeps you on court.
References
Prevalence and injury profiles for recreational padel players: A cross-sectional survey-based study. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40644841/
Injuries and overuse injuries in padel tennis: a retrospective epidemiological cross-sectional study of a level 1 trauma center in Germany. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40677135/
The Burden of Injuries in Padel: A Systematic Synthesis of Risk Factors and Biomechanical Implications. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/408540383
Analysis of Differences in Injuries in Padel Players According to Sport-Specific Factors, Level of Physical Activity, Adherence to the Mediterranean Diet, and Psychological Status. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40711113/
Training Load, Injuries, and Well-Being in Youth Padel Players: A Cross-Sectional Study. https://doi.org/10.3390/sports13100356