PICKLEBALL: PREVENTING INJURY

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pickleball injury pr

We love Pickleball! But we don’t love seeing injuries. Our Physical Therapists at Proximal50 Bismarck will go over some common injuries and how to keep you playing.

Pickleball is hot right now! If you’re looking to get some social and physical activity, this is the perfect sport. It’s universally appealing with simple rules, relatively easy for beginners to pick up but can quickly evolve to a fast paced competitive match for experienced players. With its increase in popularity we’ve seen a lot of players come through our doors so they can get back on the court. 

Common pickleball injuries usually include the foot or ankle. We see a lot of ankle sprains and achilles tendinitis. Even some leg muscle injuries such as hamstring or quad muscle strains, and shoulder injuries too. 

Some basic precautions to prevent injury include:

  • Not playing on a wet court to avoid slips and falls. 
  • Protecting those feet and ankles by wearing proper footwear. Court shoes (not just any athletic shoe) allow forward and backward movement without catching the floor. Check out the Volley Llama for some great court shoe recs. 
  • Wearing protective eye gear.
  • Staying active when you’re not playing pickleball. 

Beyond those precautions, a lot of the time injury can be prevented with a proper warm up. Pregame measures to prevent injury include warm up exercises and stretches to prepare body parts for movement and for the muscles to work throughout their full ranges. Below is a dynamic warm up that can be done before playing pickleball down and back across the court or using a similar distance off the court.

PICKLEBALL WARM UP:

  1. Brisk walk (or jog) for 3 minutes which can be done back and forth across the court with arm circles (both big and small, forward and backward).
  2. Forward walking lunge with twist 1x down across the court.
  3. Herd the turtles walking hamstring stretch 1x back across the court. Try to keep your back flat!
  4. Side lunge 1x down across the court.
  5. Walking back across the court 1x on your tiptoes.
  6. Squat in place 10x.

Pickleball has become a great motivator for people to both rehabilitate pre-existing injuries and deal with injuries that can occur while playing. If you’re not feeling 100% while playing, reach out to our team of Physical Therapists to help. 

Get started with Physical Therapy here.