Wimbledon 2017 is here and it has arrived with a bang! Not so much the standard of play on court but rather the injury front has seen several retirements over the first two days of play. Andy Murray has had his ongoing hip injury played out in the press, while Nick Kyrgios and Stan Wawrinka are other high profile names to succumb to hip and knee injuries. Roger Federer has had clear passage to round two after Alexandr Dolgopolov required treatment before throwing in the towel in their meeting. Novak Djokovic also got through after Martin Klizan retired with a calf injury.

Today we will look at calf injuries that are common in tennis players as well as runners.

The calf is made up of 2 large muscles – gastrocnemius and soleus and a smaller muscle called plantaris. Gastrocnemius is the more superficial of the muscles with soleus sitting beneath it. Gastroc. has two heads to it and crosses both the ankle and knee joints – this makes it somewhat vulnerable to injury. Injuries to soleus are far rarer.

The calf is usually injured with sudden movements that dorsiflex the ankle (bend it up) while weightbearing. With the gastroc this often happens with the knee straight as the muscle is then stretched over 2 joints. Activities like rapid lunges (common during racquet sports) or acceleration to sprint when running are common causes of calf injury. It may also occur when the muscle is fatigued after distance running.

During a calf injury many people describe a sudden sensation of being struck on the back of the leg. Swelling is common and it can be difficult to walk initially. In more minor calf injuries people can sometimes continue with their sport at the time of the injury but the pain becomes more severe after. Of the two heads of the muscle the medial head (on the inside of the calf) is more commonly injured than the lateral head (on the outside).

Treatment involves four key steps; exercise therapy, neural mobility, load management and gait re-education.