According to a recent study by the American Pickleball Professionals, nearly 19% of the US adult population have played pickleball at least once in the past 12 months. While the study also showed a 34.8 average age of players, Dr. Ben Buchanan, PT, DPT, OCS, AIB-VR/CON, SCS, typically sees patients with pickleball-related injuries between 50 to 90 years old. Dr. Buchanan is an avid pickleball player who shared some insights on preventing pickleball injuries.
Dr. Buchanan recommends players conduct a quality warmup before they take the court. This can look like a brisk walk, light jog, side shuffles, stretching, and single-leg balance exercises. Additionally, pickleball players must wear appropriate footwear; shoes that offer stability can lessen the chance of spraining an ankle. He also provides exercises to treat and prevent specific injuries:
- Ankle Sprains: Short runs and agility movements tend to lead to ankle sprains.
- Treatment Exercise: Ankle alphabet—With your leg in front of you, use your foot to trace the letters of the alphabet in the air.
- Achilles Tendonitis: High-impact movements like jumping on the court can aggravate the Achilles.
- Treatment Exercise: Heel raise – Stand with feet shoulder-width apart. Rise on your toes and slowly lower for 2-3 seconds.
- Knee Strains: Pivoting in pickleball can lead to meniscus injuries, LCL/MCL injuries, general aggravation, or inflammation in the joint.
- Treatment Exercise: Leg extensions—Sit in a chair with your feet flat on the floor. Lift your leg straight in front of you, pause and return to the starting position.
- Tennis/Pickleball Elbow: Backhanding can aggravate the outer part of the elbow and cause inflammation or, in some cases, microtears of tendons.
- Treatment Exercise: Wrist curls—Hold a small dumbbell or bottle of water in your hand and lay your arm on a flat surface, palm up. Lift using your wrist and lower slowly. Repeat with your palm facing down.
- Shoulder Injuries: Reaching overhead to hit the ball can irritate the shoulder muscles, including the rotator cuff. This irritation could lead to damage or tendonitis of the rotator cuff.
- Treatment Exercise: Doorway stretch—Stand in an open doorway with arms on each side of the frame. Keep hands at or below shoulder height and lean forward through the doorway for a light stretch.
If you have any questions or concerns about pickleball-related injuries, don’t hesitate to schedule an appointment with a Physical Therapy Central physical therapist. Your health and safety are our top priority. For the full article, please click here: “Pickleball” Elbow? New Sport… New Injuries.
