Why Elbow Injuries Are Padel’s Most Persistent Problem
Padel tennis has become the unexpected darling of British sport. Once dismissed as a continental curiosity, its rise has been nothing short of meteoric. In shopping centres, converted squash courts, and under translucent canopies across the Home Counties, the sport now draws over 190,000 regular players each week. The allure is clear: a game that’s easy to learn, sociable, and doesn’t require elite athleticism.
But behind the upbeat headlines and expanding infrastructure lies a growing medical reality — one that’s beginning to stretch both the limits of club physiotherapists and NHS clinics. Because with popularity comes pressure, and with pressure, comes injury.
The question quietly circling the physiotherapy desks and insurance boards is this: what is the most common injury in padel tennis?
According to leading sport science researchers, orthopaedic clinics and underwriters alike, the answer is both predictable and increasingly problematic: lateral epicondylitis — more commonly known as tennis elbow, though its modern iteration might now deserve renaming as padel elbow.
A Surge in Play, A Rise in Strain
The Sport England Active Lives Survey (June 2025) confirms that participation in padel has doubled year-on-year, with more than 640 public-access courts and over 80 private clubs now registered across the UK. Demand is so high that clubs report court booking occupancy rates exceeding 78% during peak hours.
But the accompanying injury metrics tell another story. A 2025 white paper from the British Journal of Sports Medicine (BJSM) found that 31% of padel-related injuries affect the elbow joint, with many progressing to chronic tendinopathy when untreated. Padel-specific injuries have outpaced those in recreational tennis, badminton, and even five-a-side football over the last two quarters — due in part to player demographics and the sport’s high repetition mechanics.
Data provided by UKActive’s Sport Health Risk Tracker shows:
The most frequent injury is lateral epicondylitis (tendon inflammation around the outer elbow).
Over 60% of cases involve players aged 35 and over.
Women account for 44% of reported cases, reflecting padel’s broad gender participation.
Nearly 40% of players affected sought private physiotherapy due to NHS wait times exceeding six weeks.
The Mechanics of Repetition
Unlike tennis, where topspin and slicing techniques dominate, padel is built on shorter, flatter stroke mechanics — and far more of them. Because the court is smaller and enclosed, rallies last longer. Each point demands more strokes in tighter space, which places repetitive strain on the forearm and elbow, especially during volleys, lobs and smash returns.
Serving in padel is also underhand — a feature that, while beginner-friendly, can exacerbate pronation stress on the elbow when executed incorrectly. Over time, this repetition leads to microtears in the extensor carpi radialis brevis tendon, the usual culprit in lateral elbow strain.
Physios warn that players new to racket sports are particularly vulnerable. “The action seems gentle, but padel creates an illusion of safety,” says Dr Harriet Lonsdale, lead therapist at the London Sports Ortho Clinic. “The issue is cumulative. Without proper grip size, warm-up, and technique, the elbow takes the load — every point, every match.”
Equipment Shortcuts, Long-Term Pain
With entry-level bats priced as low as £40–£60, many first-time players unknowingly select equipment that lacks shock absorption or balanced weight distribution. According to retail analytics from PadelMarket Insights (2025), 71% of injured players had purchased bats under £85, many of which lack key materials such as EVA soft foam cores or carbon face reinforcement.
Budget bats typically fall short in:
Reducing vibration after impact
Providing balanced head-to-handle weight
Offering grip sizes suited to hand dimensions
Without proper guidance from club professionals or retail assistants, players often compound poor form with ill-fitting gear.
Coaching Shortfall and Preventable Risk
Despite the sport’s rapid uptake, coach availability lags far behind demand. As of Q2 2025, the LTA Padel Division lists just over 425 qualified coaches nationwide, with wide regional disparities. Scotland and the South West remain particularly underserved.
The UK Coaching Development Index now flags padel as a “structurally under-coached sport,” raising concerns around injury prevention. Without early access to proper technique instruction, players often model bad habits or copy peers, especially in club ladder matches or casual tournaments.
“Technique is everything in padel,” notes Simon Patel, Head of Coaching at Westfield Padel Club, Birmingham. “Wristy flicks and shoulder slaps may work in squash, but in padel, they tear elbows apart. The first ten lessons determine a player’s injury future.”
Court Scheduling and Compressed Recovery
Most commercial padel courts operate on 70-minute fixed booking blocks, a model optimised for turnover rather than player health. In practice, this encourages players to skip warm-ups and play at maximum intensity for the entire session.
Such high-tempo sessions, without dynamic stretching or cooldowns, increase susceptibility to tendon strain, particularly in colder climates or evening play. And since padel is non-contact and low-impact, many players misjudge their risk exposure, treating it more like yoga than sport.
To compound the issue, club scheduling models are incentivised for volume — not education. A court with four players paying £12 each per session can generate £70+ per hour, making time allocations for warm-up or instruction commercially unattractive unless baked into the pricing model.
Treatment Trends and Private Sector Surge
The bottleneck in NHS physiotherapy services has led to an uptick in private musculoskeletal care, especially in cities where padel has taken root. Clinics in London, Manchester and Leeds report a 43% increase in padel-related appointments over the past 12 months.
Typical treatment packages now include:
Diagnostic ultrasound (£90–£140)
Sports therapy sessions (£50–£85 per hour)
Kinesiology taping and bracing (£15–£45 per application)
Cortisone injection (if required): £160–£260
Graded return-to-play programmes (3–6 weeks)
Private insurers including Vitality, AXA PPP, and Bupa SportCare have begun offering padel-specific coverage add-ons. However, these often require medical documentation of warm-up adherence and approved equipment usage — pushing clubs to formalise compliance logs.
From Product Design to Prevention
Padel equipment manufacturers are taking note. Brands such as Babolat, Adidas, and StarVie have launched new bat ranges with built-in anti-vibration tech, ergonomic handles, and reinforced impact zones designed specifically to minimise tendon strain.
Wearables are also entering the prevention market. The PadelTech ProBand, developed in collaboration with the University of Bath’s Biomechanics Lab, now provides real-time elbow stress data using a small sensor embedded in a compression sleeve. The product, retailing at £110, is being piloted by five elite UK clubs with positive early feedback.
Meanwhile, high-end bats featuring shock-dampening foam cores and reinforced bridges are gaining popularity despite higher costs. A 2025 survey by Decathlon UK indicates that players using bats priced above £150 report 33% fewer strain-related complaints after six months of regular use.
Government and Club-Level Interventions
The LTA is now working with UK Active, Sport England, and Royal College of Physiotherapists to roll out a National Padel Injury Awareness Initiative this autumn. The pilot scheme, which will launch in 35 clubs across Greater London and the Midlands, includes:
Warm-up signage at court entrances
Injury tracking apps linked to player IDs
Discount vouchers for approved bats and elbow guards
Onboarding modules with local physiotherapists
Mandatory warm-up coaching for new members
The Padel4Schools programme is also under review to introduce safe-play guidelines and lighter bats in its school curriculum, now taught in over 160 secondary schools.
Looking Ahead: Risk vs Reward
Padel, by almost every metric, remains one of the safest racket sports available — with lower acute injury rates than football, rugby, or even netball. But its unique play mechanics, combined with ageing player profiles and coaching shortfalls, have exposed a weak spot: the elbow.
Elbow injuries may not be dramatic. They don’t grab headlines like concussions or ACL tears. But they linger, impede performance, and, when ignored, can cause chronic disability. And in a sport driven by casual competition and repeat engagement, they pose a silent threat to retention and reputation.
As the sport matures, so too must its support systems. From better bats to smarter booking models, Britain’s padel infrastructure must adapt to ensure that a game known for its ease doesn’t become one remembered for its aches.
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