Improve proprioception

With agility sports, you need to improve your understanding of how you move your joints. Not part of a netball team? It’s still important for those who do a lot of HIIT that require jumping and twisting. “It’s basically about improving how the brain stabilises the ankle to avoid painful movement,” says Visagie. “To do that we work on balance and challenge the tiny, intrinsic muscles around the ankle and foot on balance balls to increase strength and awareness.”

Even out imbalances

“Think of the foot or the ankle almost like a kite. And you’ve got to be pulling on both strings equally otherwise the kite is going in one direction or the other. We need to make sure that there’s no imbalance between the muscle groups supporting the ankle or you can easily roll to one side,” says Visagie.

Specifically, it’s the peroneus muscle (on the outside of the ankle), the tibialis (on the inside) and also muscles in the calf that contribute to stability in the ankle.

If you’re noticing that you roll or sprain your ankle easily, you will probably need to work on your imbalance. “Generally, 95% of patients have muscular imbalances. We use therabands to build strength on the inner or outer ankle by placing the band around the feet and doing inversions or eversions – basically rotating the foot in the opposite direction to the side you need to strengthen.”

Ankle injuries: how to prevent and support ankle pain, including tendonitis and sprains