Sports strapping tape is an essential tool for athletes and active individuals, designed to provide superior support and protection during physical activities.

Most sports tapes available on the market today are made of cotton, which means it's highly absorbent while remaining impervious to water or sweat. Sport tape works by keeping muscles and tendons firm, and protects your muscles by preventing unnecessary strain. It also prevents chafing and helps hold equipment like foam padding, splints and other gear, in place. Sports tape can also be used to help minimize additional damage to existing injuries, particularly on the hands, feet and wrists, where many athletes are most vulnerable.

To get the most out of athletic tape, it's important to be able to apply it correctly. When athletic taping, you don't use one long continuous role the way you would use a bandage for a sprain, or duct tape over a leak. Instead, the athletic tape is carefully positioned and adjusted. It must also be smooth to prevent blisters. Many athletes consider athletic taping or "taping up" part of the ritual before the actual sport begins and wouldn't consider it any other way.

Fortunately, in today's demanding athletic field, there are athletic tape products for a wide variety of uses. Gymnasts prefer flesh-toned athletic tape for its presentation and aesthetic value, while football players and other hardcore sports prefer colored tape which is generally used for ankle support a type of application known as "spatting". There's also tape that only sticks to itself rather than directly to the skin.