Research on the ankle in sport

Editorial. The ankle would likely be one of the most researched areas in sports medicine, stemming from its high rate of injury in a variety of sports. As a weight-bearing joint, the ankle must deal with a range of forces from activities as benign as walking to the complexities of the responses to significant forces through landing on uneven surfaces to the turning and twisting in running gait that many sports require. For most sports, return to activity after ankle injury is dependent on the ability to not only bear weight, but also to cope with forces in multiple directions whilst maintaining the mobility required for correct sporting technique. In ballet, for example, the ankle is required to be highly mobile to achieve the aesthetics required of the lower limb, but also strong enough to support that mobility without the prospect of injury or re-injury.