Kinesiology tape - often called Sports Tape because that's a whole lot easier to spell - is the brightly coloured tape that used to just be seen on athletes but now is just as likely to be seen on your grandma or gardener as it is the premier league footballer.
If you visit a sports massage therapist or soft tissue therapist, it's now quite common to find that sports taping is included as part of your treatment (here at State 11 in Spalding, if we think sports taping will help, we'll include it for free as part of your appointment - some therapists will charge extra). But sports taping isn't something that you need to be a professional to do. It's easy enough to do at home - there's plenty of good quality instruction YouTube videos out there, and with tape prices ranging from around £5 to £20, many people are choosing to use tape at home, whether it's because they're doing a long hike or run, or they're looking to support an injury while still moving and keeping active. But - as with anything - some brands of tape are better than others. Is cheap sports tape always useless? Is expensive sports tape always the best? At State 11, we've tried a lot of different kinesiology tape, so we thought we'd share our review of sports tape!
Rock Tape
Rock Tape used to be the "big daddy" of taping brands, thanks to various sponsorships with major sporting events. They also offer recognised certification in taping for professional therapists, completion of which comes with a hefty discount when buying more tape, which means it's a brand often seen in therapy spaces. The range of brightly coloured designs makes it appealing for consumers - all of which means that Rock Tape should be in a pretty unassailable position at the top of the taping tree. But RockTape has been bundled into a larger conglomerate, and the brand has started to become diluted with products that are more fad than therapy. Ordering direct is complicated, and the most consumer friendly designs are often out of stock, resulting in customer frustration. It's generally not found in shops; the best place to buy is Amazon, which is great if you have Amazon Prime, but annoying if you need to add on another £3 or so for delivery. Retail price is normally around £11.99 (more if you want a fancy pattern or you don't manage to catch a sale). Once you get the tape, it's worth noting that it comes with a useful leaflet explaining some of the more common taping techniques (and some less common ones!). For home users, this is really useful, and saves endless googling or YouTube searching. The tape itself is easy to apply - it cuts well with a pair of sharp scissors and while some pre-cut tape varieties are available, most rolls are uncut, meaning you can cut just what you need, which is definitely better value. The backing paper tears well and it's sticky enough for a crafty bit of repositioning if you get it wrong the first time. Like most tapes, it does not stick well over wax or moisturiser. The next big question is how long does it last? Rock Tape comes in a "standard" or "H2O" version - the H2O variant is designed for swim and surf use and has stronger adhesive. Both types are pretty resistant to showering, as long as it is patted dry rather than rubbed, and the usual trick of drying with a hairdryer can help it stay on the skin a little longer. For people with sensitive skin, there is a "RX" version, with a delicate adhesive but this (unsurprisingly) has less longevity than the other two types.
However, Rock Tape does have a tendency to shrink a little after getting wet, meaning that it pulls on the skin and can become more uncomfortable after it's been through the shower. By shower two or three, this can be quite noticeable to the extent that the tape needs to be removed as it simply hurts too much.
Removal of the tape is invariably uncomfortable, whether it's removed when wet or dry. As someone who has used taping reasonably regularly, I know to keep the skin taut, pull at an angle etc, but removing RockTape is never fun.
Ease of Buying: 5/10 (their website sucks and it's Amazon and waiting for delivery)
Appearance: 10/10 (everyone loves the cow tape and pink cameo)
Price: 7/10 (okay at retail, great for professionals with a discount code)
Therapeutic Value: 7/10 (great until it shrinks in the shower and starts to hurt)
Overall: 7/10
KT Tape
One of the earliest brands of kinesiology tape to reach the UK, KT Tape is the most easily found on the high street as it's sold in even smaller Boots stores. It's provided on a roll, like Rock Tape, but the roll is made up of pre-cut strips, meaning that you're stuck using the length they want you to use. This can make larger or longer taping difficult, but is perfect for areas like calf or bicep taping.
KT Tape make some of the best YouTube instruction videos, but their tape does not come with an instruction leaflet for "offline" use. The tape comes in a small range of colours, but the real pain point is the price. I've seen KT Tape in my local boots for £19, which is a huge amount considering Rock Tape can generally be picked up about a third less.
Since it's supplied pre-cut, you may not need to cut KT Tape, but for some taping applications, like hand taping, cutting the tape into thinner sections can be beneficial. Should cutting be necessary, KT Tape cuts pretty well, and the backing paper tears well. The tape has a good amount of stretch and is easy to apply.
When KT Tape is applied to healthy, clean, dry skin it appears to stick well. However, in practice it often does not manage to last an entire event; I've used KT Tape in a marathon and by the end of the 26.2 miles it's flapping away from the back of my calf. I'd expect this perhaps around the knee, but not the calf. Perhaps in an effort to get around this, KT Tape did also sell a fixative spray - I've not seen this for a while and I'm not sure if it's still available.
Considering it can come off if skin gets sweaty, surprisingly it doesn't survive through a shower very well, but if you manage to get it to stay on, you'll find that it doesn't tighten up like Rock Tape does, which is a bonus.
Removal is easy and pretty pain free, even if you just rip it off.
Ease of Buying: 8/10 (it's in Boots or Amazon)
Appearance: 7/10 (fine, just a bit boring)
Price: 3/10 (paying will hurt more than the injury did)
Therapeutic Value: 6/10 (falls off too quick unless you pay more for sticky spray)
Overall: 6/10
Aldi Own Brand Sports Tape
Aldi do a "centre aisle" sports tape that comes in a pre-cut pack. Considering it costs around £3.99, you'd be forgiven for expecting something pretty poor quality. There's generally only enough for one application - perhaps an elbow, wrist and hand or knee - so centimetre for centimetre, it's likely more expensive than Rock Tape and probably on a par with KT Tape - but of course you're only buying a smaller amount.
However, the tape does actually stay on reasonably well. The main issue with Aldi Own Brand Sports Tape is that if it's not in the centre aisle when you want it, it's not much use! Of course, you can buy some in advance and stock up, but chances are you'll forget where you've put it and need to go order some Rock Tape or stomp off to Boots to pay a fortune for some KT Tape.
Ease of Buying: 1/10 (if it's not there you're outta luck)
Appearance: 7/10 (standard block colours in blue and black and pink)
Price: 10/10 (cheap - just remember you're only buying one application)
Therapeutic Value: 6/10 (sticks well, but only suitable for certain applications)
Overall: 5/10
Sportstape
The only British brand out of the ones we're reviewing here (although I don't know where it's manufactured), Sportstape is rapidly nipping at the heels of RockTape as a professional use brand thanks to competitive professional pricing structures.
Which is a posh way of saying that therapists can get it cheap. And we like that.
However, so far we can only find it online - either direct or via the ubiquitous Amazon. Which means "I need it now" is a no go.
Sportstape comes in a smaller range of colours than RockTape, but it does have enough variety to satisfy those who don't just want black tape. It comes in a cut it yourself style roll, which means you don't get the pre-cut convenience of KT Tape, but you can measure out just the right amount for you. From a professional point of view, this is much better - but a home user may prefer the ease of precut tape. Either way, should you need to cut Sportstape, it cuts easily with scissors, feels nice to touch and the backing paper tears easily.
We did note that the more patterned tape doesn't feel quite as soft. We assume this may be because there is more ink which stiffens the tape somewhat. It comes in two varieties - extra sticky or gentle.
Application is good, and there's enough adhesive to be able to reposition quickly if necessary. Once it's patted down into place, it's pretty solid and very supportive.
Sportstape stays on well during exercise, but the big different between Sportstape and RockTape is that it doesn't shrink in the shower. This is a huge bonus because it means that the tape gives the same amount of support over days, without pulling tighter and tighter. This means the tape can be left on, which is very useful therapeutically, and means that it's better value for money. Like all the other tape in this review, patting dry with a towel or blasting with a hairdryer is better than rubbing dry.
Removal when dry is uncomfortable, but removal when wet is pretty pain free.
Ease of Buying: 8/10 (good site or Amazon - but you've still gotta wait)
Appearance: 7/10 (some variety but nothing show stopping)
Price: 8/10 (okay at retail, great for professionals with a discount code)
Therapeutic Value: 10/10 (stays on, doesn't shrink, longer lasting)
Overall: 9/10
In Conclusion
For the style conscious home user, Rock Tape is an appealing choice given the wide variety of colours and patterns online. But they're not always in stock, you may need to pay for Amazon delivery, and you've got to wait for it turn up, before getting maybe two showers worth of use out of it before the tape tightens too much and it needs to be taken off.
We'd instead recommend Sportstape. Not quite as fancy, but a good price point, and therapeutically more useful. As a former Rock Tape only studio, we now use SportsTape professionally, and recommend it to our clients (although some of them still choose Rock Tape online due to the colours!)