Pickleblog Part I
If I wrote this blog about pickleball 3 years ago, it would be a safe bet to say that maybe 1-10% of my readers had any clue what I was talking about. Now fast forward to the present time, recently published numbers report that there are 36.5 million people who play pickleball annually with a 156% growth in participation with growth happening daily. The complications COVID provided with gym accessibility, the desire for social interaction, and social media influence absolutely helped grow this sport.
If you haven’t played pickleball yet, I highly recommend it. It is a hybrid of ping pong, badminton, and tennis played on a court that is small enough to allow to you have a conversation with your competitor, but big enough to allow for a quality workout. To play you need a paddle and whiffle ball and it is played on a court. Most parks and wellness centers continue to either add court space for these pickleball addicts or transform their tennis courts to also be played as pickleball as the same size net is used.
Pickleball offers a great sense of community and competitiveness and can be played by all ages. In 2022, it was estimated that 18% of routine pickleball players are 65 or older. The shorter court dimensions allow for all ages and all levels of fitness to be able to compete. However, this does come with complications. Since the sport is accommodating to all ages and fitness levels, it does result in high rates of musculoskeletal injuries. The types of injuries that people can incur can be separated into 3 different buckets: 1. Chronic Overuse (repetitive micro-trauma to a soft tissue structure). 2. Traumatic injury (i.e. trip and land on an outstretched hand resulting in a wrist fracture). 3. Acute sprain/strain of a muscle or joint.
The purpose of this blog post is to not scare you off from playing, but rather to encourage you to either keep playing or begin playing but understand the importance of taking care of your body ensuring you have the proper warm-up routine and rest/recovery periods. I will break down each bucket and explain how physical therapy and/or the proper training routine can help you decrease the likelihood of falling into one of these 3 buckets.
Bucket 1: Chronic overuse: Common areas where chronic overuse can rear its ugly head are the achilles, forearm, hamstrings, and plantar fascia. The rotator cuff is not as popular in this population as there is less overhead movement during a competitive game compared to tennis. This is perhaps the most complicated bucket. If you have been experiencing persistent pain in a tendon (i.e. the achillies) it is not always the easiest rehabilitation journey. It takes time, persistence, training, and activity modification. While it can be difficult to manage once you are in this bucket, it can often be avoided by ensuring you are healthy and moving appropriately before engaging in the sport. I wrote a whole blog on this in February 2023 which is well worth reading if you feel you are in this bucket or are curious to know more: Tendinitis or Tendinopathy?
Bucket 2: Traumatic injury: Sometimes traumatic injuries are dumb luck. There is always going to be a situation where you were in the heat of the moment back peddling, slipped, and landed wrong resulting in a broken bone or torn muscle. Plain and simple, sometimes these can’t be avoided and come with the territory. However, these situations can sometimes be avoided, or the likelihood is lessened if you take the appropriate measures to ensure that you are safe to be engaging in the sport. For example, if you know that you struggle to balance on one foot, have a fear of walking backward, or have difficulty with dual tasking (performing two different tasks at the same time), you are putting yourself more at risk for something such as a fall. If you feel like this is you, find a physical therapist to help you with this whether it is myself or someone else. Not only can a physical therapist offer appropriate tests and measures to gauge your level of safety and risk, but we also are equipped with the tools to tailor a training program for you. This will allow you to make meaningful changes on the court as well as off the court.
Bucket 3: Acute sprain/strain: I worry about this bucket. Each time before I play, I engage in some sort of warm-up to ensure that my body is ready to perform at an appropriate level and to also decrease the risk of an unwanted injury. The most common areas where people experience these acute sprains/strains are the groin, knee, lower back, and again the achillies. This is the bucket that 90% of us should take the most seriously. So many injuries occur because our bodies are not dynamically warmed up. I always joke, go watch Giannis or LeBron right before their basketball game starts. They are dripping sweat and breathing heavily before the game tips off. Why are they doing this? It’s quite simple. There are a lot of intelligent people and stacks of research taller than me that say if you warm your body up you will perform better and as a result reduce the risk of injury. Now I am not asking everyone to be dripping sweat before playing but give me 3-5 minutes of a simple routine and it will make the world of a difference with your body.
Pickleball is addictive and it is a healthy exercise. If you are fearful to play because of the risk of injury, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me or another physical therapist. Working with a physical therapist will not only offer encouragement but will also be very empowering. If you are someone who currently plays at a high volume and is dealing with a nagging injury, again please reach out to a physical therapist. As mentioned in my recent blog, those types of injuries will get worse before they get better.
If you are someone who is like me, where you either love to play and want to play and want to do whatever you can do to avoid the occurrence of injury, stay tuned as in Part II I plan to go over specific exercises that you can add into your warm-up routine!
Thanks for your time!
Dr. Ryan