Muay Thai Ankle Supports

Ankle Support
Muay Thai Ankle Supports
If you’ve ever seen a Muay Thai fight, you’ve probably seen most of the fighters wearing ankle supports. As with any combat sport, both competition and training can result in serious injury, if you do not have the right supports and protection. Ankle supports can protect the ankles, which can be rolled, broken, or sprained easily during a fight. There are several different options that fighters can choose from. These include:

  1. Elastic. If a fighter needs both compression (to help blood flow), and stabilization, elastic is a great choice. It is one of the most breathable choices, but it also helps to keep the ankle warm and flexible, to prevent injury. There are options that function like wraps, which allows the fighter to decide how tightly they want there ankle wrapped, and there are options that are more like sleeves, which come in different sizes, depending on how tight the fighter needs the support to be. 
  1. Neoprene. Like elastic, neoprene supports come in both wraps and sleeves. Similar to elastic in just about every regard, neoprene has one major difference, which could be a positive or a negative, depending on the fighter’s style. Neoprene is thicker and therefore less able to flex and twist than other materials. If a fighter needs more support in that area, this might be an ideal choice. However, this material is also prone to collecting sweat, which could make a fighter slip during a fight. 
  1. Athletic tape. This tape allows the fighter to customize the location and tightness of their support. Being able to wrap the ankle as many times as is necessary to provide the level of support they need is another major bonus. The only downside of choosing athletic tape over an elastic or neoprene wrap is that it does not provide as much traction as either of the above two options. Also, if a fighter is not experienced with wrapping, they might not know how tightly they can wrap there ankle without cutting of circulation, which can be very bad.

Each fighter should try out different types of ankle supports to find the style and material that they prefer and which aids there style, instead of impeding it.