Tendinopathy & how to deal with it
Tendinopathy: What It Is and How to Deal With It
If you play netball, chances are you've either dealt with tendon pain yourself or trained alongside someone who has. Tendinopathy and tendinitis are incredibly common in the sport, largely because of the demands netball places on the body. Constant jumping, landing, and sudden changes of direction. The pain can range from a mild niggle to something serious enough to stop you training altogether.
What Is Tendinopathy?
Tendinopathy is a flare-up of the tendon, where it becomes swollen and extremely painful, reducing its ability to function properly. Tendons are the tough, fibrous tissue that connect muscle to bone, and they play a crucial role in absorbing and transferring the forces generated during athletic movement.
This condition typically develops through overuse, repetitive landings, decelerations, and squatting movements gradually wear on the tendon until it can no longer keep up with the demand being placed on it.
What Causes It?
A few common culprits tend to be behind most cases of tendinopathy:
Excessive jumping and landing
High volumes of decelerations
High volumes of sprinting
Poor strength and conditioning
Changes in footwear
Essentially, it comes down to load. When the amount of stress on a tendon outpaces its capacity to recover, irritation sets in.
Warning Signs to Watch For
Catching tendinopathy early makes a real difference to recovery time. Keep an eye out for:
Pain during or after exercise
Stiffness in the morning after training
Tenderness around the tendon
Pain during jumping and landing
It's worth noting that these symptoms aren't a diagnosis on their own — if you're experiencing any of them, it's always best to get a proper assessment from a physio.
How Do We Manage It?
The good news is that tendinopathy is very manageable with the right approach. Pain can often be reduced through a few simple methods: icing the area to help with inflammation, continuing to train with the correct technique, and improving overall leg mobility.
Strength work is essential here, not optional. Targeted strength exercises help develop the tendon's capacity and are a key part of recovery, so the goal isn't to stop training but to keep strength work going while avoiding anything that aggravates the area. Start at a low volume and build gradually, steady, consistent increases in load beat big spikes every time. Tendons need load to heal, but expect them to feel fragile and sensitive in the first few sessions.
The two most common presentations we see are patella and Achilles tendinopathy, and both respond well to targeted exercise:
For patella tendinopathy: leg extension isometrics, split squat isometrics, slow eccentric squats, wall sits, heavy RDLs, and hip thrusts.
For Achilles tendinopathy: seated calf raises, step isometrics (holding the heel off a step at different levels), and 2-up-1-down calf raises.
The Bottom Line
The most important thing when managing tendinopathy is not to stop completely. Instead, reduce the load-heavy elements of training, jumping, running, and sharp changes of direction, while doubling down on strength and mobility work. Gradually reintroduce court work as the tendon adapts.
Take this approach consistently, and you'll build the kind of robust, resilient knees that can handle whatever training throws at them.
Dealing with tendon pain and not sure where to start? Get in touch with the team at WP Performance for a proper assessment and a plan tailored to you.