Ankle sprains are the most common sports injury, and the most under-rehabilitated. Most athletes return to play when the pain fades. That’s the problem.

Up to 40% of people who sprain their ankle develop chronic instability. Pain resolving ≠ ankle recovered. Full ligament healing can take up to a year, even when you feel fine.

At Forte Physical Therapy in Halifax, we inform our rehab and clearance using objective, performance-based testing.

 

Our RTS Testing Battery:

1. Isometric Calf Strength Test

• Measures force production through the ankle before dynamic loading begins
• Target: ≥90% Limb Symmetry Index (LSI)
• Calf inhibition is common post-sprain even when pain is gone
• Goal: Symmetrical strength between legs before progressing

2. Lateral Hop Test – 90% LSI Target

• Directly loads the lateral ankle structures that were injured
• Target: ≥90% Limb Symmetry Index (LSI)
• Straight-line hop tests frequently overestimate readiness lateral hopping exposes deficits they miss
• Your sport moves sideways. Your testing should too.

3. Figure-8 Hop Test

• • Single-leg multidirectional course combining deceleration, acceleration, and direction change

• Target: 90% LSI, <14 seconds.
• Validated functional performance test for lower limb injury
• Challenges neuromuscular control across multiple planes simultaneously
• Exposes deficits that straight-line tests can’t find

4. Single-Leg Hop on Force Plates — Reactive Strength Index (RSI)

• RSI measures how quickly you absorb and redirect force critical for cutting, landing, sprinting
• Target: ≥90% Limb Symmetry Index (LSI)
• Athletes can pass hop distance tests while still showing significant RSI deficits
• Force plates tell us what a tape measure can’t: how your nervous system is actually loading the ankle
• This is where our performance training background sets us apart

5. 5-10-5 Agility Test

• • Sprint 5 yards, cut back 10, cut again for 5 at full speed

• Goal: No pain or instability
• Directly mimics demands of hockey, basketball, soccer, rugby
• Tests deceleration, planting ability, and confidence to cut under pressure
• The closest thing to game speed in a controlled environment

6. Patient-Reported Outcomes (FAAM)

• FAAM (Foot and Ankle Ability Measure): Rates ability across daily and sport-specific tasks, strong predictor of true return-to-sport readiness
• Both tools show comparable predictive validity for RTS outcomes
• If you don’t trust your ankle, you’ll hesitate and hesitation causes reinjury

Why a Battery, Not a Single Test?

No single test is enough to fully clear an ankle sprain. You need:

• ✅ Strength
• ✅ Controlled hopping symmetry
• ✅ Multidirectional movement
• ✅ Full-speed agility
• ✅ Athlete’s self-confidence

Fail a test? That’s not a setback, it tells us exactly what to work on. Our team bridges physiotherapy and performance so we can close those gaps fast.

 

Don’t guess at readiness. Test for it.

BOOK AN APPOINTMENT WITH TANNER

By: Tanner Bishop

Physiotherapist, CSCS, MSc PT, BSc Kine, NCCP Coach