Pickleball's popularity is increasing — and so are game-related injuries
Paddle-based game 'an addiction that's actually good for you in many ways,' says surgeon
The concept of pickleball is simple.
Players say it's similar to games like ping pong and tennis, melding them into a sport that values community and competition.
According to Pickleball Canada, as many as one million Canadians are playing the game, making court time a hot commodity.
Although it has a reputation as a relatively gentle sport that's welcoming to all ages and abilities, a new report by bank UBS Group suggests that a growing number of players are getting injured on the pickleball court. Analysts estimated that medical costs associated with pickleball could cost Americans and their health care providers $377 million US ($502 million Cdn) in 2023.
Those analysts pointed to a study published in the journal Injury Epidemiology in 2021, which found that pickleball injuries increased rapidly between 2010 and 2019, and that 85 per cent of those were sustained by people 60 and over.
It's a game that can see a 17-year-old paired up with a 71-year-old for a pretty even match. But because pickleball is an easy sport to pick up, that lends appeal to an older crowd, said Toronto Sun sports columnist and avid pickleball player Steve Simmons.
Simmons says he's noticed that as pickleball's popularity picks up, older players do seem to be racking up sprains and strains.
That uptick in injuries includes his own. Simmons injured his Achilles tendon four years ago. He said the recovery was so brutal that he had to stop playing the game altogether — at least for now.
But playing can damage body parts that aren't used to the rigours of the sport, especially before players learn proper technique.
"I see a lot of people, when they start the game, they're too tight," Simmons told The Current guest host Robyn Bresnahan. "They hold the paddle too tight. And once you get a death grip on a paddle, and you start and swing it violently at the same time, you end up pulling a lot of stuff in your arms and shoulders."
And even as people get better at pickleball, there are more potential injuries than they might think.
"The more common injuries are definitely going to be your legs, hips, ankles," he said.
'An addiction that's actually good for you'
Dr. Laurie Hiemstra, an orthopaedic surgeon in Banff, Alta., said she's seeing an increase in pickleball injuries north of the border, too.
But even so, she says it's been good to see older people embrace the sport — mainly because she's often seen people get less active as they age.
"It really is a good sport for older people," said Hiemstra, who is also past-president of the Canadian Orthopaedic Association. "It's low impact, it's low cost, and there's not a lot of sports that the over 60 population can play."
"Soccer becomes too hard on the body to play. And so pickleball is a really great benefit for this population."
She calls pickleball "an addiction that's actually good for you in many ways," but warns players should exercise caution even though the game is easy to pick up.
"These people are a little bit older. They've lost some of their muscle strength," she said. "As we get weaker, as we get older, they're not warming up. They don't have the stretching in place."
Hiemstra recommends wearing proper shoes, working on building up strength and making sure you're on a proper court.
"Getting those extrinsic things in place where we're playing on proper courts and playing with proper shoes and playing with a proper racquet — not borrowing your friend's racquet that's too heavy for you," she said.
"All these things will mitigate injury."
'You want to play almost every day'
Simmons said he agrees with those precautions, and notes that bodies aren't built to engage in the "side-to-side movement" that pickleball requires.
"That's why so many tennis players break down," he said. "And I think it's not a natural thing for your feet and your ankles and your knees and your hips and all that stuff, even though you're only covering a small area of the court."
Simmons played tennis for years, so he says it wasn't hard for him to learn pickleball.
Sometimes, Simmons would play with people he didn't even know. It often didn't matter though, because the game promotes a fun and social environment.
In fact, he says it can be hard to stay away from the game once you've gotten the hang of it.
"Once you play, you want to play almost every day," he said.
But retreating from the game has caused Simmons a sort of loneliness — and not necessarily just from the people, he said.
"It's social, it's fun, it's athletic, it's not athletic," said Simmons. "It can be whatever you want it to be."
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