Context: Ankle sprains or chronic ankle instability (CAI) is common in athletes and a common method for decreasing the effects of ankle instable is using tape. Objective: To determine whether Mulligan ankle taping (MAT) influenced the functional performance (FP) tests in athletes with and without CAI. Design: A cross-sectional study using a within-subject experimental design between four ankle conditions (taped and untaped, athletes with and without CAI). Setting: Research laboratory. Participants: Sixteen professional athletes with unilateral CAI (10 men and 6 women; age 23.2 ± 3 years, height 175.4 ± 10.3 cm, weight 73 ± 14.5 kg, and body mass index 23.8 ± 3.6%) and 16 uninjured professional athletes (10 men and 6 women; age 22.8 ± 1.7 years, height 173.6 ± 12.2 cm, weight 66.4 ± 11.4 kg, and body mass index 22.2 ± 3.3%) volunteered to participant in this study. Intervention: Mulligan ankle taping. Main Outcome Measures: FP tests including single leg hopping course, Figure-of-8 hop and side hop were measured for both the groups in two conditions: taped and untaped. Results: There were significant differences between injured and uninjured athletes in all FP tests (P < .05). MAT significantly improved FP tests in both groups (P < .05). Conclusion: We found that MAT can improve FP tests in athletes with CAI and uninjured athletes. Therefore, it seems that MAT can be an effective method for enhancing athletes` performance in sports that require lateral movements
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