OOAK Table Tennis Forum

stretching before playing won't help... It's only useful after you've done your exercise. Then it takes a load off your strained muscles. Stretching does not prevent tendon damage.

You'd be better off just warming up thoroughly, and don't rush things. A good warm-up gradually puts the muscles and tendons under increasing strain. This is the best preparation for sporting.


(all of the above IMHO, I'm not a doctor, but this is the general idea I've got from talking to doctors and physical therapists)

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Sounds like good advice Jasper. The other good thing, I'm sure is high support shoes. I don't think the orthopedic soles I had helped as they increased my foot height in the shoe and reduced the supporting level of the shoes sides and back.

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I'm always in the dark, but the Dark sheds lights upon everything!! Beauty is only pimple deep! Beauty is in the eye of the pipholder!
S/U 1: Blade: Bty Gergely . FH Black Andro Rasant 2.1 . BH Red Tibhar Grass Dtecs
S/U 2: Blade: Bty Gergely . FH Black Hexer+ 2.1 . BH Red GD Talon
S/U 3: Blade: Bty Gergely . No rubbers...thinking of adding Red Dtecs and Black Rasant
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Reb, inner-soles are great if they are medically prescribed, but I am sure doctors don't prescribe them as optimum playing equipment.

maybe if you do need to use them, you could try getting a pair of sneakers that have higher ankles, so that even with the soles, you still have some ankle support.

I like to play in non-tt shoes, even though they are a bit heavier, simply because I like my soles to be thick and springy. I don't want to expose my joints to more impact than I really need to. I always strap both knees before I play as well.

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I have to wear basketball shoes because my ankles are bad and I need as much support as I can get. Without high top shoes, I'd roll my ankles all the time.

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Yep I worked this all out "after-the-event" and got a pair of reeboks that have a wide sole and high sides, and I didn't put in the insoles. But of course it was too late, the horse had bolted. Thing was I bought the shoes I was in when I had the accident from another Aussie TT site and they were sworn by as good shoes. They cost me a lot in the end (if they contributed to the accident, which can never be proven of course). Dems da breaks!

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I'm always in the dark, but the Dark sheds lights upon everything!! Beauty is only pimple deep! Beauty is in the eye of the pipholder!
S/U 1: Blade: Bty Gergely . FH Black Andro Rasant 2.1 . BH Red Tibhar Grass Dtecs
S/U 2: Blade: Bty Gergely . FH Black Hexer+ 2.1 . BH Red GD Talon
S/U 3: Blade: Bty Gergely . No rubbers...thinking of adding Red Dtecs and Black Rasant
Aussie Table Tennis Shop / Aussie Table Tennis Facebook Page / Equipment Review Index / Read my Reb Report Blog: click here.

I saw the doc today and got a few answers. First, he said a repaired achilles is no stronger than an original, but he said the chance of re-rupturing one is only about 1-2%. He told me it would probably always be a bot stiffer than it was, which may help prevent re-rupturing due to my greater awareness of it.
I have stretching exercises to do because I've been immobile for so long and my foot/leg/achilles is stiff, but I don't think there is much you can do to prevent this injury besides perhaps some limbering which may help somewhat, and then avoiding the impossible ball LOL. The doc said he sees this injury most commonly in squash players.

The best news is, I'M CAST FREE Now just have to wreck a good pair of shoes on the way to dumping the crutches and walking normally again. The shoes go, because they have to glue an inner and outer heel into the injured side one to keep the heel up for a few weeks. Apparently when they take the steps out, it wrecks the shoe.

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I'm always in the dark, but the Dark sheds lights upon everything!! Beauty is only pimple deep! Beauty is in the eye of the pipholder!
S/U 1: Blade: Bty Gergely . FH Black Andro Rasant 2.1 . BH Red Tibhar Grass Dtecs
S/U 2: Blade: Bty Gergely . FH Black Hexer+ 2.1 . BH Red GD Talon
S/U 3: Blade: Bty Gergely . No rubbers...thinking of adding Red Dtecs and Black Rasant
Aussie Table Tennis Shop / Aussie Table Tennis Facebook Page / Equipment Review Index / Read my Reb Report Blog: click here.

Great news Reb!

Try to get rid of the stiffness as soon as possible, the key is to keep it moving (don't overdo it though, your body will tell you when to take a break )

How's your ankle doing? When I had my tendon injury, my wrist, hand and forearm were in a cast for 6 weeks. My wrist (or to be more precise, bending it) hurt like hell when the cast came off... I still couldn't play for two weeks just because of the wrist pain caused by the cast (there was nothing wrong with my wrist before the cast went on).

I hope you have a speedy recovery and we can see you back at the table in no time!

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Thanks Jasper. The whole area around the ankle and especially where they cut me at the back of the leg is pretty tender. Cannot put anything like full weight on it yet. But I have been doing lots of stretching exercises (can feel the tension here) and have been putting the foot down now I can put a shoe on. They have taken one of my shoes and converted it with wedges both inside the shoe and cut into the heel on the outside to raise the angle that my foot sits at when it strikes the ground. Have to be in this shoe for 4 weeks and then its bye bye shoe cos it cant be returned to normal. Oh well, my loyal old Reeboks made the ultimate sacrifice for me lol.

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I'm always in the dark, but the Dark sheds lights upon everything!! Beauty is only pimple deep! Beauty is in the eye of the pipholder!
S/U 1: Blade: Bty Gergely . FH Black Andro Rasant 2.1 . BH Red Tibhar Grass Dtecs
S/U 2: Blade: Bty Gergely . FH Black Hexer+ 2.1 . BH Red GD Talon
S/U 3: Blade: Bty Gergely . No rubbers...thinking of adding Red Dtecs and Black Rasant
Aussie Table Tennis Shop / Aussie Table Tennis Facebook Page / Equipment Review Index / Read my Reb Report Blog: click here.

Oh, so loyal! I pray for it's eternal repose to shoe heaven.

Actually, I know the feeling of losing shoes which were companions for a long time...

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Mine wouldve been 10 next year Yuz. How old were yours? Reeboks last and last eh!

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I'm always in the dark, but the Dark sheds lights upon everything!! Beauty is only pimple deep! Beauty is in the eye of the pipholder!
S/U 1: Blade: Bty Gergely . FH Black Andro Rasant 2.1 . BH Red Tibhar Grass Dtecs
S/U 2: Blade: Bty Gergely . FH Black Hexer+ 2.1 . BH Red GD Talon
S/U 3: Blade: Bty Gergely . No rubbers...thinking of adding Red Dtecs and Black Rasant
Aussie Table Tennis Shop / Aussie Table Tennis Facebook Page / Equipment Review Index / Read my Reb Report Blog: click here.

Mine don't last that long.

You take care of them shoes very well, Reb. Mine last like, 4-5 years, then they become brittle in various sections.

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Viscaria. H2 Neo 2.15. Tenergy 05 1.9.

As a former university football player, I can really attest to this. Before we do some stretching, we must be a bit warmed up. We used to run around the football field until small beads of sweats starts to trickle down our body. The coach wont allow you to do the normal routines like stretches, calisthenics and drills until your sweats are visible. Cold muscles is brittle and could easily led to serious injury if it is not properly warmed up. Take a look at professional football matches, players have to run around the bench before being fielded into the game.

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OOO... snapping your achillies tendon... oh man thats got to hurt.

I mean, when i dislocated my ankle all i had to do was pop it back in. oh man but achilies tendon breaking is just awful. well actually anything breaking is awful.

But what 77g33k is right. cold muscles are brittle and they are easy to strain. but im not sure what you can do to prevent an achilies tendon snapping. all i can say is that you should perhaps wear shoes with a wide sole to improve stability. also, since that you have been injured, you should use an ankle wrap to provide stability.

and yes i have had my fair share of injuries too. A dislocated left ankle, fractured right ankle and a broken finger.

Because i had a great physio, and that i obeyed what he said to not touch a ball for 5 months.if you do get an infury like that, when you are recovering, even if you want to move the limb abit to test it or see if there is any pain, don't. dont move the limb at all an of course. DO NOT put any pressure on it . anyway, thats what casts and wheelchairs are for.

follow these guidelines and you should maximize your recovery time.

The physio I was seeing got me a set of insoles. I can't remember the name of the material. It's shock absorbing so takes some of the spike out of the impact. Have a word with your physio the insoles are good for about a year. I think the material starts with an N. (I'm a bit dyslexic and struggle with names). I also have some heel raises that I got from a JJB sports store. I wore these early on to reduce soreness and to allow me to bend my knee more over my foot (I asked for my repair to be as tight as possible) but as you want to stretch the tendon I didn't and wouldn't wear them all the time.
I've got the insoles in my squash shoes. (Gym work bores me so i've talked her into letting me boast against the wall in a squash court to break up sessions. I'm just not allowed to play against other people as its unexpected sudden movements and explosive push off movements that i still need to avoid). I sounds like i'm further along the road to recovery than you though Reb so I wouldn't be trying squash just yet)

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Another one bites the dust.

Very interesting -- I was wondering what was the big difference between my two Mizunos -- apparently, the older one needs it's insoles replaced.

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Viscaria. H2 Neo 2.15. Tenergy 05 1.9.