Ankle Stability Secrets: Boost Performance & Prevent Injury

You turn your shoulder, plant your foot — and boom.
Not your defender
Your ankle.

Same roll. Same pain. Same shaky step that makes you second-guess every move. You want to explode, cut, shift — but your ankle doesn’t feel built for it. And when you don’t trust it, you don’t trust you. That hesitation? It’s costing you.

You’re not soft. You’re just done playing on glass.
So let’s fix this problem together.

In this edition:

• Why rolling your ankle is one of the most common injuries in sports—and why it keeps coming back.

• How weak ankles limit speed, control, and confidence across every type of sport.

• Three foundational drills to start bulletproofing your ankles.

• Want exercises tailored to your sport? Scroll down to learn how to get your personalized version in next week’s edition.

— Paco Raven, Editor & Founder

Rolling your ankle isn’t just annoying. It’s one of the most common injuries in all sports — accounting for nearly 45% of all athletic injuries in some studies.

And once it happens? It often comes back.

Weak ankles don’t just make you more likely to get injured. They make you slower, stiffer, and shakier in moments that matter.

Let’s keep it real:

• A winger in football can blow by a defender but hesitate on a change of direction because he doesn’t trust his ankle to hold.

• A volleyball player might jump high for a block — but land off balance, feeling that sting of a roll because she lacks joint control under load.

That’s what we’re talking about here: lost confidence, rhythm, and potential — all rooted in a joint you’ve probably overlooked.

Your ankle isn’t just a hinge. It’s a 360-degree steering wheel for your body. It controls:

• Balance and stability

• Acceleration and deceleration

• Safe take-offs and clean landings

• Reactive footwork and change of direction

And it does all that while carrying 4–5x your body weight during most sports actions.

When the muscles and tissues around the ankle are weak, stiff, or poorly coordinated, your brain starts limiting movement to protect the joint. That’s when you:

• Start overloading your knees or hips

• Move with hesitation

• Or worse, roll it again — and again

It doesn’t matter what sport you play — if you need to be quick, stable, and confident on your feet, your ankle is part of the foundation.

Here’s the truth:

• In agility sports (football, basketball, rugby), a weak ankle slows down every cut and change of direction.

• In power sports (weightlifting, sprinting, volleyball), a stiff or unstable ankle can kill force transfer during lifts or landings.

• Even in skill-based or endurance sports (tennis, running, MMA), ankle control is tied to energy efficiency, coordination, and injury resilience.

After an ankle roll, most athletes lose the ability to bend their ankle properly when their knee moves forward over their foot — a movement known as ankle flexion. They also lose stability in the smaller muscles that protect the joint, but this is rarely fully recovered.

So if you want bulletproof ankles, you need more than just calf raises or taping up before a game. You need:

• Stability: strength in the small muscles that protect the joint

• Mobility: freedom to move through full range (especially dorsiflexion)

• Control: the brain-muscle connection to react when things get unpredictable

That’s where tools like Controlled Articular Rotations (CARs) come in — they help rewire your nervous system to build strength and joint awareness.

Think of it like this:

In the next section, we’ll break down three drills to start strengthening your ankles from the inside out. So you can move with confidence, not caution.

Best 3 Exercises To Build Stronger Ankles

You don’t need fancy gear or a full gym to start making your ankles more stable, responsive, and strong. You just need to train control.

Here are three simple exercises you can use to strengthen your ankles from the ground up — and reduce your chances of rolling them again.

1. Single Leg Stand

How:
Stand barefoot on one leg. Try to stay completely still without letting your ankle collapse or your body wobble.

Goal:
Start with 30 seconds per leg. Build up to 60 seconds with eyes closed.

Why it works:
This builds balance and strength in the deep stabilizers around your ankle — the ones that keep you steady when things get unpredictable.

2. Skater Jumps (With Pause)

How:
Set up two cones (or anything to mark distance) about 1.5 meters apart. Jump sideways from one leg to the other, landing on one foot and holding the landing for 2–3 seconds before jumping back.

Sets/Reps:
3 sets of 5 reps per leg

Why it works:
This improves dynamic balance and lateral ankle strength — key for sports that involve cutting, reacting, and fast direction changes. If 1.5 meters feels too far or too easy, adjust the distance to match your level — but always prioritize control over speed.

3. Ankle CARs (Controlled Articular Rotations)

How:
Sit on the floor with one leg extended. Slowly make the biggest, smoothest circle you can with your ankle, moving only at the joint (not the knee or hip). Move clockwise, then counterclockwise.

Reps:
5 slow circles in each direction, per ankle. Keep tension and focus through the whole range.

Why it works:
This trains active joint control and helps restore full-range movement after a sprain — especially ankle flexion (the ability to bend your ankle forward while your heel stays down), which often gets stiff after injury.

Wondering if these exercises work for your sport?

These exercises build your base — but we know every sport demands something different.

Starting next week, this section will include exercises that are 100% tailored to how you move, train, and compete — so you’ll never have to guess if they will work for you.

If you want exercises that are personalized to your sport, just fill out this quick survey (takes less than a minute).

What do you think about this email? Tap your choice below and share your thoughts. Your feedback helps us make The Stoiclete even better!

Thank you for reading.

Next Monday, we will be back with a new Q&A edition.

And if you missed last Monday's Q&A edition on Lifting heavy while staying quick and explosive. Read it here.

Until next week,
Paco Raven, Editor & Founder
The Stoiclete

DISCLAIMER: None of the content provided in this newsletter constitutes medical, training, or performance advice. This newsletter is strictly educational and is not intended to be a substitute for professional guidance or personalized coaching. Please be mindful of your limitations and perform exercises at your own risk.