SportsClosed basketweave ankle taping
An athlete needs the ankle taped to prevent an inversion sprain, the injury that usually comes from rolling the ankle in, often with the toes pointed down. You prepare the skin, hold the foot in the right position and build the closed basketweave strip by strip: anchors, stirrups, horseshoes, figure 8, heel locks and closeouts. It is the step-by-step technique taught in athletic training programs.
Free to startScenarios
- Tape for prevention, before practice or a game.
- Tape with 1.5-inch white athletic tape, or 2-inch tape, which can take fewer strips.
The steps
- Have the skin clean and free of oils and lotion; put heel and lace pads with lubricant to prevent blisters.
- If you use underwrap, keep it thin: around the midfoot, one figure 8 and closed above the ankle bones, barely overlapping and never around the heel.
- Hold the foot at 90 degrees, neutral or slightly turned out, during the whole procedure.
- Anchors: three strips around the lower leg, starting 6 to 8 inches above the ankle bones and moving down half a width each time, tearing the tape for each one.
- Anchor around the midfoot without pulling tight over the fifth metatarsal.
- Stirrups: from the inner side of the top anchor, straight down over the inner ankle bone, under the heel and up over the outer ankle bone to the anchor.
- Lay the second and third stirrups half a width forward of the one before, sealing each strip down.
- Horseshoes: from the outer side of the foot anchor, around the Achilles over both ankle bones, back to the anchor; three strips, each half a width higher, alternated with the stirrups.
- Figure 8: from the lace area to the inner arch, straight under the foot, up the outer side back to the laces, then around the Achilles and back to the laces.
- Lateral heel lock: from the laces, under the foot toward the outer heel, snug around it, behind the Achilles and back to the laces.
- Medial heel lock: the same toward the inner heel, snug around it and back to the laces.
- Repeat the figure 8 and the lateral heel lock, and the medial heel lock if a second one is wanted.
- Closeouts: 3 to 5 strips around the lower leg from just above the ankle bones, each half a width higher, then one or two around the midfoot without tension on the fifth metatarsal.
- Check the tape for windows and gaps, neatness, support, comfort and function.
Safety rules that stop the station
- Never put too much tension over the fifth metatarsal, on the anchors, the figure 8 or the closeouts.
To pass
- Every strip sealed down firmly before the next one.
- No windows or gaps, and the ankle supported, comfortable and able to work.
Official source
Ankle taping for prevention of the inversion ankle sprain
The University of West Alabama athletic training program publishes the closed basketweave free, strip by strip.
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