Effects of 8 Weeks of Two Exercise Programs on Risk Factors Associated With Epicondylitis in Amateur Padel Players

June 23, 2026 updated by: Nuno Tavares, School of Allied Health Sciences of Porto (ESTSP) - Polytechnic Institute of Porto (IPP)
Background: The physical demands of padel can increase the risk of injuries, particularly lateral epicondylitis in the elbow. Key risk factors include deficits in forearm muscle strength and rotator cuff weakness. Prevention programs focus on forearm strengthening, with no studies on rotator cuff strength. This study aims to compare two exercise programs designed to reduce risk factors for lateral epicondylitis in amateur padel athletes, specifically wrist extensor strength, grip strength, and rotator cuff strength.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

A sample of 45 amateur padel athletes was allocated to a conventional exercise group (n = 15), a rotator cuff exercise group (n = 15), or a control group (n = 15). The first two groups performed two strengthening exercises, one common to both groups (wrist extension) and one group-specific exercise (forearm supination-pronation or the Y exercise). The control group did not perform any intervention. Participants were assessed at baseline (T0) and post-intervention (T1). Muscle strength was measured using the ActivForce 2 hand-held dynamometer. Outcome measures included wrist extensor strength, grip strength, shoulder internal rotation strength, shoulder external rotation strength, shoulder abduction strength, and the isometric external-to-internal rotation ratio (ER:IR).

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

45

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Portugal
      • Leiria, Portugal
        • Instituto Politécnico de Leiria

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Aged 18 years or older
  • Practicing padel at least once per week
  • Willing and able to provide informed consent
  • Agreed to participate in the study

Exclusion Criteria:

* History of an upper-limb injury within the previous six months

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Prevention
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Conventional Exercise Group
Participants performed wrist extension and forearm supination-pronation strengthening exercises using dumbbells for 8 weeks.
Other: Strenght exercises
Both exercise groups participated in two independent sessions per week for a du-ration of 8 weeks. Each session consisted of two strength exercises, with participants completing 3 sets of 10 repetitions of two strength exercises with 1-2 minutes of rest between sets
Experimental: Rotator Cuff exercise Group
Participants performed wrist extension strengthening exercises using dumbbells and the Y exercise targeting the rotator cuff for 8 weeks.
Other: Strenght exercises
Both exercise groups participated in two independent sessions per week for a du-ration of 8 weeks. Each session consisted of two strength exercises, with participants completing 3 sets of 10 repetitions of two strength exercises with 1-2 minutes of rest between sets
No Intervention: Control Group
Participants did not receive any exercise intervention during the study period.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Peak Force
Time Frame: From enrollment to the end of treatment at 8 weeks
maximum force across the multiple repetitions of the test - for wrist extension, grip strength, and rotator cuff strength (shoulder internal rotation (IR), shoulder ex-ternal rotation (ER), and shoulder abduction (ABD)), assessed using the ActivForce2 digital dynamometer.
From enrollment to the end of treatment at 8 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
ER:IR Isometric Ratio
Time Frame: From enrollment to the end of treatment at 8 weeks
calculated based on the results of the shoulder internal and external rotation PF tests
From enrollment to the end of treatment at 8 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

School of Allied Health Sciences of Porto (ESTSP) - Polytechnic Institute of Porto (IPP)

Collaborators

Instituto Politécnico de Leiria

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

November 8, 2025

Primary Completion (Actual)

April 13, 2026

Study Completion (Actual)

April 13, 2026

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

June 18, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 23, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

June 25, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

June 25, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 23, 2026

Last Verified

June 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • CE/IPLEIRIA/15/2025

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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