Pickleball is exploding in popularity nationwide, as well as in the Northern Virginia area. One of its appeals is its lower risk of serious injury compared with tennis, but that doesn’t mean people aren’t getting hurt. A DC-area sports medicine doctor says you still need to be careful to avoid pickleball injuries, and has advice on how to play safely.
A decade ago, pickleball “was sort of a fringe thing,” says Dr. Wiemi Douoguih, regional medical director for sports medicine and chief of sports medicine at MedStar Washington Hospital Center, “and it just took off over the last few years. You’ve heard John McEnroe come out and say, ‘This is the sport I’m going to play for the rest of my life.’”
Celebrity pickleball tournaments featuring tennis stars such as Andre Agassi Andre Agassi have only fed the craze, Douoguih says. “And it’s not really a surprise, when you think of people who want to be fit and stay in shape and want to play paddle sports into their 60s, 70s, maybe even into their 80s.”
Pickleball is sort of a combination of tennis, table tennis and badminton, played on a smaller court.
“Tennis, while desirable, becomes more difficult as we get older,” Douoguih says. Your reaction time often stays the same as you age, he adds, but your ability to actually get to the ball that you think you can get to diminishes, as does your body’s ability to withstand the shocks of changes of direction at high speed. Much in the way older tennis players often switch to doubles in order to reduce the amount of ground they have to cover, pickleball can offer the same gentler alternative to pounding it out on a singles tennis court.
That doesn’t mean there aren’t still pitfalls, though. As the sport catches on, the injury rate is catching up.
“The number of injuries that we saw in tennis in 2013 to 2015 were much higher than pickleball,” Douoguih says. “But now you’re seeing that number equalize as participation increases.”
Warming Up
While the sport is a great way for older people to stay in shape, Douoguih says 90 percent of pickleball injuries are suffered by people older than 50.
“So it’s really important to understand that even though it may may be easier for the body to tolerate, and it may still be fun, you still need to do warmups; you still need to gradually build up and stay in shape. It’s not something you can just walk out and play and expect to not put your body at risk,” he says.
”While it’s easier to handle on the surface, and may not require as much cardiovascular demand, there are still risks,” Douoguih says, including the very musculo-skeletal and cardiovascular problems that pickleball avoids.
Douoguih says you should check in with your doctor before you start playing pickleball, or any sport. After that, however, you still need to watch out: “You’re still changing direction quickly; you can fall,” Douoguih says, and that leads to the same kinds of sprains and strains tennis players suffer. “Patellar tendonitis, Achilles tendonitis, muscle strain, hamstring strains — these are all very common things that we see with pickleball.”
Safe Stretching
The best way to prepare for pickleball, or any sport, is to get some cardiovascular activity going before you play. “Whether you go for a little jog and break a sweat, or get on an exercise bike, get the muscles warm before you go out and do any explosive activity.”
That does not, Douoguih emphasizes, include standing there and stretching: “You can actually injure the muscles by doing static stretches if you’re not warm. And so we recommend dynamic stretching activities that combine some sort of cardiovascular work. In addition to elongating the muscle/tendon unit and preparing yourself for play.”
He gave examples such as jumping jacks or jogging at about 60 percent effort. ”That will actually lengthen the muscle/tendon unit, but again, will also raise the heart rate and get the blood flowing so that you don’t put yourself at risk for injuries,” he says.
“You don’t have to cover as much ground and you don’t have to dissipate as much force. Because you don’t have as you’re not able to build up as much momentum. And so it is it is easier on the body in one sense. That being said, there are still explosive movements with quick dynamic action and reactions that can put you at risk for injury. So you just have to be aware that it’s not without risk, even though the risk may be diminished.”
All that said, Douguih highly recommends pickleball with the right preparations: ”The health benefits of any type of cardiovascular activity is going to be tremendous. It enhances eye hand coordination and balance. So, done properly, pickleball can be a great sport that you can do well into your 70s and 80s.”
Feature image, stock.adobe.com
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