The U.S. Women’s Beach Volleyball team of Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh created quite a stir at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing – and not just because they were the best team and ultimately repeated as the Gold medal winners, but because star Kerri Walsh was covered in Kinesiotape.
Most of the viewers back at home in the U.S. thought – what the heck is that stuff? Did she get a tattoo? Did she apply some sort of war paint to her body? No, Kerri didn’t do anything that drastic to improve her gold medal changes, she simply applied Kinesiotape to her body in order to increase blood flow to her muscles and thus improve her performance.
This tape was developed almost three decades ago. It can provide flexible support to weak muscles, and help those muscles “fire” the way they normally do, which improves neurological function and increases circulation. In the summer of 2008, Kerri was still recovering from rotator cuff surgery she’d had done the previous November. By August, she still didn’t think her shoulder was at 100% capacity, so she chose to use this tape.
Kerri Walsh may be the most famous proponent of this product, but she isn’t the only athlete to benefit from this revolutionary sports tape. Lance Armstrong, David Beckham, Justine Henin and Serena Williams have also used Kinesiotape to great success.
It has other uses that are just as beneficial.
It can be applied to the neck to relieve stiffness in the upper vertebrae and provide support to weak neck muscles.
Applied to the lower back, it can relieve soreness and back pain, and increase blood flow to the spinal area.
In addition to being applied to the upper arm and shoulder area, as Kerri so famously demonstrated, it can also be applied to the forearm to help relieve the symptoms associated with carpal tunnel syndrome.
Kinesiotape can be applied to the knee to help with patella pain and stiffness.
For the ankle, it can provide support and stability if you’ve recently suffered an ankle sprain, or if you just need more support in that area. For many athletes, using an ankle brace is prohibitive because it decreases flexibility, so the tape may be just the solution an athlete needs to prevent and relieve pain, while ultimately improving performance.
So if Kinesiotape is good enough to help Kerri Walsh win the gold medal, maybe it will be good enough for all you weekend warriors out there…