BJJ tape tips for treating an injured finger quickly.

Sometimes training can lead to injuries. While injuries are never fun, if you handle them properly, they can be much easier to deal with. There is a lot of grabbing in BJJ and because of that there is a lot of strain put on the fingers. If you do injure your fingers here are some quick tips.

First, if you can, rest. Taking a bit of time off the mat or avoiding using your injured finger will give it time to heal. Combining that with using ice and it will help speed up the process. Rest as much as you can so it can heal faster.

Another great way to deal with an injured finger is by rolling in no-gi. There is a lot less strain on your fingers when you train no-gi. This could be a great option to give your finger a bit of rest.

Once you have rested or are ready to begin using your finger again, taping definitely helps. It will help keep the joints from further injury. You can tape your fingers like how I described above, and I also have some more tips below. There are plenty of ways to tape and it depends on what you are looking for. Make sure to do your research and tape appropriately.

How to Tape a Torn Ligament in the Finger

Competing in jiu-jitsu is a great goal to have and a great way to test what you have learned. Whether you’re a white belt or a black belt, going head-to-head with someone in a competition is a great way to grow your jiu-jitsu skills. No practice roll will ever give you the experience of going against someone who is trying to win just as badly as you are!

As you can see in this video here, Eugene Tsozik of the ChewJitsu Podcast was in the process of loop choking his opponent when things did not go quite as planned. Even though he got the win, he tore the ligament in his middle finger. While he was completing the loop choke both him and his opponent heard it tearing. You can see him bending over in pain as he stood up to accept his victory!

While the win was worth it, Eugene knew something wasn’t quite right with his finger. In order to continue with his next match he had to tape his finger. It’s pretty simple to do.

First, start with a strip around the finger and anchor that to the tape. Next, go across the side of the finger to the joint with the tape. After that, make an x at the side of the knuckle. Then, repeat on the other side of the knuckle -- repeat as needed for additional stability. Once you’re done, make sure the finger can bend comfortably for mobility. You can also do buddy taping, or taping one finger to another will add additional support.

Stability Finger Taping for BJJ

If you do BJJ long enough you’re going to have to eventually tape your fingers. All the grabbing and holding starts to add up so most likely you’ll eventually have to deal with some hand injuries. Taping will help mitigate those injuries and keep you rolling on the mats. Your joints and tendons will be getting extra support allowing your fingers to heal and to mitigate any further injury.

Taping for stability is especially important. While there are plenty of ways to tape out there, Eugene is going to show you one of the ways that he likes to do it. While he could do just the top joint, Eugene prefers to stabilize the whole finger. Supporting the whole finger will be especially beneficial because the tendons run up and down the whole finger, not just part of it.

First, start by making a loop at the base of the finger as an anchor. Then, he likes to go across the joint to add some stability. Then, Eugene loops over the top of the joint one way and go back down and cross over. You’ll want to alternate back and forth crossing at the joint on both sides of your finger. You want to make sure that you’re taping pretty light as you’ll still want to be able to bend your finger and not cut off the circulation. As you loop around and cross back and forth between the bottom and top of the joint it should create an X on the side of your finger. Keep doing this until you feel a good amount of stability for the joint.

After you have a good amount of stability on the bottom joint you’ll want to move onto the top one. Keep going across and looping in a similar manner as you did with the bottom joint. There should also be an X shape over your top joint, just like the bottom one. Keep repeating this as many times as you feel is necessary in order to get a good amount of stability in that top joint.

You can also go right over the top joint and not just around it in order to limit the chances of hit hyper-extending. There are many ways to tape. For example, you can tape for limiting extension, for limiting the straightening, for limiting the bending, and others.

So what he did here specifically was he left more mobility for the bottom joint of his finger and taped the top joint for more stability. It’s also a good idea to open and close your hand a few times just to make sure that it feels good with some movement. You want to be able to bend your finger, but not too much. The tape has to allow for mobility but maintain stability.

As you warm up the tape will start to loosen up a bit to add some more mobility. If, otherwise, you feel that your circulation is cut off and the tape is too tight don’t be afraid to take it off and re-tape it. You want to make sure that you have the right amount of tightness. At the end of the day, it’s really about what feels best for you. Also, if you do have an injury make sure to get it checked out by a doctor and limit your gripping.

How to Tape an Injured Thumb for BJJ

Another common injury in BJJ is your thumb. You can use taping to help with support, stability and pain relief. Here’s an example of how to do that with a video of Eugene and Chad who injured his thumb rolling.

The first thing Eugene does is start with an anchor around the wrist and thumb. Next, apply small strips from the wrist to the thumb in order to provide some extra stability. Once that’s done, use full width tape to add an extra layer of support. Add as much tape as you think is necessary to properly support your thumb. Lastly, tape a strip around the thumb and wrists to keep the tape in place while training. It’s important to make sure that the tape is snug as it will stretch as you train and it warms up. But, also make sure it’s not too tight to impair your mobility and circulation.

Hope you enjoyed these taping tips and happy rolling!

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