Portable Pickleball Net
The truth is that seniors get hurt playing pickleball everyday of every week. Most of these injuries are minor — tennis elbow, for example — but some are major and permanently disabling. The most common major pickleball injury, for example, is the broken wrist.
How does this happen? Typically, an elderly player with a high center of gravity moves quickly toward the back of the court and loses their balance. While falling, they put out their hand to break their fall and end up breaking their wrist instead.
Trips and falls are the most common cause of serious injury for pickleball players over 60. In most cases, this is caused by a combination of physical exhaustion, poor footwork and completely inappropriate footwear.
In pickleball, especially drop-in pickleball for recreational seniors, it is not uncommon for players to play an hour or more longer than is advisable for their fitness level. The longer these recreational athletes play, the more tired they get. And the more tired they get, the more their footwork, balance and coordination break down and contribute to the likelihood of a dangerous trip-and-fall.
Why do they play so long? Maybe it’s peer pressure. Maybe it’s a desire to get the most out of their admission fee. Regardless, however, very few pickleball organizers educate their players to be aware of their own physical limitations. As a result, many pickleball players play far beyond any point that can be considered safe or responsible.
Exhaustion, however is just one of the contributing causes to pickleball injuries. Poor footwork and improper footwear are equally culpable in this regard. Pickleball organizers and instructors generally spend too much time talking to their clients about paddles and strokes and too little time talking about shoes and footwork.
Choosing the right shoes is essential for beginners. The older they are, the more important this is. The less athletic they are, the more important this is. Pickleball is a court sport that requires movement in all directions. Therefore playing pickleball requires shoes designed for movement in all directions.
Running shoes are not appropriate. Dress shoes are not appropriate. Neither are boots or sandals or even crosstrainers in most circumstances. Poor footwear choices often lead directly to broken or sprained wrists and much unnecessary pain and suffering.
It is our belief that pickleball promoters and organizers may one day face a class action lawsuit from seniors who were injured playing pickleball because they were mislead into believing that pickleball is inherently safe. The truth is that it is not. Injuries can and do happen on pickleball courts, probably as frequently as every other racquet sport.
In order to reduce the incidence of injury, it is important to teach players about the most common causes of major injuries and the best ways to avoid them. This begins with teaching players to recognize their physical limitations, to make sensible footwear choices and to spend at least as much time learning to move as they do learning to hit.
It is also important for the pickleball ambassadors to reign in their unbridled enthusiasm and stop spreading the false notion that seniors cannot get hurt playing pickleball.
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