Haters think pickleball is a non-sport for wimpy tennis dropouts. They’re not wrong, but that’s what makes it deceptively dangerous. Pickleball is really fun, and it can be very healing to feel like an athlete if you have never legitimately been one before. But that dummy who runs around the court like an 8-year-old in jeans and loafers has a blast until they face-skid into the ground. The American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons published a study that identified an 11-fold increase in pickleball injuries among seniors between 2010 and 2019. Younger people can get hurt, too. My partner had to go to the doctor after bruising a rib while falling on his own paddle at rec play. I have seen people get wild injuries — a detached calf muscle; a scratched cornea from a ball in the eye; severe dehydration requiring an IV drip; even two broken front teeth after a disastrous and improbable paddle clash.
I started playing about four years ago as a middle-aged sports convert who had previously always been afraid of getting hit by any ball (including a tetherball). I now play three to five times a week at both public and private courts, where I’m just as likely to get tattooed in the torso by a 14-year-old banger as I am to break my ankles over a drop shot from an 80-year-old. I am an ambassador for my local pickleball club, iPickle, which means I teach newbies the game rules, coordinate round robins, and keep score at tournaments. As far as DUPR ratings go, I’m probably a 3.5 forever, but if I can still hit the courts when I’m 80, I’ll consider myself the real winner.
I have had to accept that my body doesn’t bounce back like it did when I was a teenager. I’ve gotten exercises from physical therapists to address my clicky, locky knees, and I’ve spent hours following YouTube exercises for tennis elbow, Achilles strains, back-muscle pulls, and ball-of-foot pain. (The answer is almost always rest and abstinence, an unrealistic ask for a devotee like me.) I’m trying to preserve what little sporting I have left in me, so I take all kinds of precautions to prevent and soothe the injuries that would force me to return to the gym for my exercise (ugh). So here are ten things I use to prevent (or alleviate) pain from pickleball injuries.
Strong shots are set up by good footwork, and good footwork deserves a soft landing. These socks offer extra padding underfoot and around the toe box so your feet don’t slide around in your shoes. They’re also very durable — I have yet to find a hole or damage in the pairs I’ve owned and worn heavily for two years. I’ve owned both the pickleball version of these socks and the tennis version. I can’t tell the difference, and the tennis ones are $1 cheaper.
Don’t assume you’re athletic enough to get out of the way of a ball to the face. We’re all only one errant ricochet away from Michelle Pfeiffer’s black eye. These cycling glasses, which I use with transparent lenses (sold separately), offer wrap-around coverage, good scratch resistance, and no lens distortion. There are cheaper options, but I need adjustable nose pads that squeeze tight like a clothespin.
I also own a pair of Tifosi Alliant cycling sunglasses, which are cheaper and come with interchangeable lenses.
Warming up prevents injuries, and this resistance loop can help you fire up your muscles. The big muscles in your lower body carry your knees, so my physical therapist told me to activate my glutes before play with banded squats, lateral crab walking, and monster walks. Any resistance loop will do; this one has great build quality.
Pickleball involves a lot of lateral movement, so you should get tennis or pickleball shoes that offer side-to-side stability. Don’t risk rolling your ankles with heel-toe marshmallow running shoes. I have a spreadsheet of all of the shoes that can’t fit around my bunion, and my only shoe is the K-Swiss Hypercourt Express 2 Wide (which also happens to be a Strategist pick for tennis shoes). For extra support for my flat arches, I supplement with Superfeet orange insoles.
This bendy rubber churro is absolutely essential for healing tennis elbow. Use this for eccentric (meaning muscle-lengthening, not weird) exercises to relieve pain and strengthen your forearms. The green one offered the right amount of tension for me, and I found this video tutorial very helpful.
My aforementioned bunion has been my right foot’s constant companion for 20 years now. After pounding around the courts, I like to stretch the joints out with these cute gel toe separators. They’re intense at first, but over time they keep my toe joint from throbbing in pain at night. I have the Gems version, but it might be time for me to upgrade to the wider Classic.
People usually remember to apply sunscreen, but lips can burn easily, too. It’s taken me a lot of trial and error to find a lip sunscreen that I’m not allergic to. I use this lip tint in Plum Blossom, which is a natural-looking, low-key color on me. It contains 4.7 percent octisalate and 15 percent zinc oxide, so it tastes a little like calamine lotion smells, but it works.
When you play in the sun for hours, dehydration-induced headaches and fatigue become a problem. This sugar-free, easy-to-dissolve electrolyte powder works better than anything else I’ve tried and doesn’t taste like lemon Pledge or artificial super-sweetener. I like the orange flavor best, but every flavor I’ve tried has been tasty. Warning: It is very salty.
When pickleball pro Andrea Koop plays, she usually has one of these compression sleeves on her right arm. I used one when recovering from tennis elbow so I could continue playing with minimal pain. The sleeves go on tight and stay tight, even after trips through the laundry.
I know I keep talking about my feet, but they do all of the work, and I find these essential for decompressing after a day of play. They’re like vegetables for your feet — good for you, not indulgent. They support my flat arches, and the smooth soles are much easier to keep clean than the grooved soles on the Ora Luxe.
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