Physiotherapy for Pickleball Players

The Sports and Fitness Industry Associated (SFIA) reports that pickleball is the fastest growing sport in America, with nearly 5 million people playing on a regular basis. The same is true in Canada, especially amongst the middle-aged and senior community. Of course, reported statistics aren’t necessary as all that you need to do is walk around nearly any suburban area to find a fresh court bustling with newly inducted participants. The growth in popularity has gotten so intense that down the road (from our Burnaby clinic) some not-so-enthusiastic residents are having a tough time with the noise. They have been able to get the City of Coquitlam to limit hours of court play from 8 AM to 8 PM. Yes, it’s so popular that people are hitting high-performance wiffle balls over a net at the break of dawn and late into the night as lighting allows.

While it’s great to see people of all-ages get out there to take on a healthy fitness activity, as with any sport there are risks of injury and malfunction. If you’re a fan and want to keep playing pickleball for many years to come, then you should make physiotherapy a part of your life too. Here’s what you need to know.

3 Ways Physical Therapy is the Key to Enjoying (and Competing at) Pickleball for Years to Come

I. Treatment for Common Injuries Suffered by Pickleball Players

While considered a low-impact form of exercise, there are a number of injuries common to pickleball that you may be experiencing, or may eventually experience. Each of these injuries (acute and chronic) can be effectively repaired via physical therapy. These include the following:

• achilles tendonitis (view available treatment)
• ankle sprain (view available treatment)
• hamstring strain (view available treatment)
• quadricep strain (view available treatment)
• shoulder impingement (view available treatment)
• wrist fracture (view available treatment)

If you’ve sustained any of the above or another injury while playing pickleball, or a preexisting injury is impacting your ability to play, physiotherapy will help. If you want to prevent reoccurrence or initial occurrence of these injuries, keep reading.

II. Prevention of Common Injuries Suffered by Pickleball Players

You don’t need to have sustained an injury from pickleball to visit a physical therapist on a regular basis. The common injuries above can be prevented from occurring in the first place, when you abide by the principles of physical therapy.

Physical therapy guided sports injury prevention protocol must be applied. A therapist will provide you with a regime of exercises and stretches that you can apply to a proper 10-minute warmup to account for the common injuries listed above. They will also provide you with a 5 or 10-minute cool down regime to follow upon exit from the court to loosen up your muscles, joints, and ligaments. Lastly, by making physical therapy a part of your health and wellness plan, you will learn a variety of proper body movements and motions (as dictated by your therapist) which will serve you well in pickleball injury prevention.

III. By Helping You Kick Butt on the Pickleball Court

By becoming and remaining injury-free you will be able to play more, and invariably get incrementally better at pickleball because of it. But that’s not what will get you into butt-kicking status on your local court. Your physical therapist will also work with you to improve core strength and increase flexibility along with mobility. After just a couple of weeks your competition won’t know what hit them as you become king or queen of the court! In addition, a physiotherapist can work with you to ensure that you are outfitted with custom orthotics. Footwear inserts will account for imbalances and issues with your gait (manner of walking) that can directly impact how you move on the asphalt, concrete, or the silica material that is used in today’s newer courts.