Introduction: Ankle sprains are recurrent injuries in basketball, hence more and more athletes are taping their ankles to promote joint stability, aiming at improving dynamic balance and, consequently, functional performance. Objective: To verify the effects of elastic and rigid athletic taping on the functional performance and level of comfort of basketball players with chronic ankle instability. Methods: Twenty-one athletes aged between 18 and 30 years (mean age 23.7 ± 3.2) with chronic ankle instability (CAI), verified using the Cumberland Ankle Instability Tool, were selected to take part in this study. The Star Excursion Balance Test (SEBT) and the Figure-of-8 hop test (F8) were applied unilaterally to assess functional performance, considering the ankle of greater instability in three situations: without athletic taping, with rigid athletic taping and with elastic athletic taping. A draw was held to determine the order in which the tests (held over a number of days) would be applied. A questionnaire was conducted to assess comfort on the same day the athletic tapes were applied. Results: There was no significant difference between the tests in any direction of the SEBT, but there was a significant difference in F8 between the rigid athletic taping x control and elastic athletic taping x control situations. In addition, the elastic athletic tape was considered significantly more comfortable than the rigid athletic tape. Conclusion: Athletic taping appears to effectively improve the dynamic balance and functional performance of athletes with CAI only in activities that cause considerable joint stress, as is the case in F8. Elastic athletic tape appears to be just as effective as rigid athletic tape in these situations, in addition to being a significantly more comfortable alternative. Levef of Evidence I; High quality randomized trial with statistically significant difference or no statistically significant difference but narrow confidence intervals.

Introduction: Basketball is a sport that requires good motor coordination as well as intense and multidirectional movements. Chronic ankle instability affects about 40% of patients who have sustained a sprain injury. In order to minimize the effects of this dysfunction, functional elastic tape has been widely used due to its mechanical properties, having some positive effects on athletes’ functional performance. Objective: To evaluate the effect of elastic tapes on the ankles of basketball players with and without chronic instability. Method: Thirteen athletes from a varsity basketball team of both sexes, aged between 18 and 30 years (23.2 ± 3.2 years), who had been playing the sport for at least one year and trained at least twice a week. The subjects were assessed using the anterior drawer test for the presence or absence of chronic ankle instability and in three different situations: placebo, elastic tape and control, and the order of use of the implements was randomly determined, using the Star Excursion Balance Test (SEBT) to assess the ankle stability of these athletes. Results: Among the eight directions proposed in the SEBT, there was statistical significance in the difference in three directions for the placebo method in comparison to elastic taping and control. There was no statistical significance in the difference in four directions between the assessments, and there was no statistical significance in the difference in all directions between the control and elastic tapes. Conclusion: It can be inferred from the study that elastic taping does not have positive effects on joint stability in athletes with and without chronic instability, taking into account their functionality. Levef of Evidence I; High quality randomized trial with statistically significant difference or no statistically significant difference but narrow confidence intervals.