CINCINNATI (WKRC) – A recent report on pickleball shows bone fractures and soft tissue injuries are climbing faster than the sport’s popularity.
Orthopedic specialists at OrthoCincy have a word of caution. Here’s what’s recommended to reduce injury risk.
“You can start with really simple things. So, you wouldn’t wear a running shoe. You would wear a court shoe. That’s going to give you more side to side support, decrease the risk of turning your ankle,” said Dr. Matthew DesJardins, an OrthoCincy sports medicine specialist.
Dr. DesJardins confirmed what a recent American Medical Association report shows. Pickleball is both popular for playing and for injuries. They are up as much as 200 percent in the last two decades.
“The simple things would be muscle strains, tendonitis, such as elbow tendonitis, shoulder tendonitis, back strain. More complicated things would be fractures,” Dr. DesJardins said.
He said most of the tendonitis or overuse injuries can be treated with physical therapy.
“You want to warm up. You want to get some blood in your muscles before you tax them on the pickleball court,” Dr. DesJardins said.
He also said players should do other training off the court to lower their injury risk.
“I think it’s important to go to the gym and train your legs,” said Michael Schwartz, who enjoys playing pickleball.
In addition, Dr. DesJardins said balance training is critical too.
“You might want to work on some balance training when you are in the gym,” he said. “It can definitely prevent injuries as you get older.”
A pickleball tournament to support the Save the Animals Foundation is Saturday, May 18 at Aces Pickleball + Kitchen at Factory 52 in Norwood.
