So pickleball continues to be the fastest-growing sport in the U.S. And now that summer is here, more Minnesotans are going to be picking up their paddles in the coming months. So whether you’re part of a competitive league or maybe you’re just a beginner looking to learn, important to know the safest way to play.
Prevent those pickleball injuries. Keep yourself in the game.
Dr. Sam Russ from Summit Orthopedics talked about pickleball injuries and how to recover from pickleball injuries to the new anchor CBC New – Minissorta.
Amelia Santaniello said, “According to Pickleball injury statistics go up when it comes to pickleball as well.”
Dr. Sam Russ confirms, “Absolutely. There was a recent study from our Academy of Orthopedics that said that injuries are increasing by about 90% percent.”
It’s a crazy amount and we’re seeing that at our practice at Summit.
Amelia Santaniello asked, “What are people, how are they injuring themselves?”
Dr. Sam Russ said,“ I think a lot of it is people are coming from maybe a little bit of a sedentary lifestyle. Pickleball is a higher impact sport than I think a lot of people think and so either inappropriate equipment, preparation, and warmup are leading to a lot of these most common pickleball injuries.“
A.J. Hilton asked him some questions:
- Are they rolling their ankles?
- Are they hurting their wrists?
- What are they injuring?
Dr. Sam Russ breaks the answer for questions: Yeah, from top to bottom. I specialize in the lower extremities, so I see a lot of Achilles tendonitis, ankle sprains, fractures, and even Achilles ruptures.
Anchor said,” You’re talking some serious stuff in here, too.“
Dr. Sam also said that he has talked to many of my upper extremity colleagues, and they’re seeing wrist fractures from people falling from diving for balls.
We’re seeing shoulder issues.
So yeah, there could be some serious things.
Amelia Santaniello asked Dr. Sam Russ, “OK, maybe this is a ridiculous question.”
Are there certain stretches that you should do for pickleball that you may not necessarily think that you do for other sports?”
Dr. Sam replied, “So not necessarily. I think a lot of it is like a general warm-up for a higher-impact sport. In the lower extremities, I think stretching the calf muscle and the Achilles is super important, for the quads and hamstrings.
But when you’re swinging that paddle, making sure that you’ve done some arm circles, warming up your shoulders, elbows, and wrists,
I think is really important too.
Amelia Santaniello said, “So obviously, like if you’re tearing your Achilles, you’re out for a while, right? But what about some of these other more common pickleball injuries?
Like how long then do you need to take a break from your pickleball after that to recover?
Dr. Sam replied, “It all depends on the injury. And I’d say that’s one of the things that can be hard for our pickleballers is they want to stay on the court. And so anytime you’re injured, we’d recommend taking a break, rest, ice, elevation. It depends on the injury of how long you’re going to need to be out. And certainly we have urgent cares kind of across the cities who would be happy to take a look at those injuries and give some guidance on that.
A.J. Hilton said,” I was just going to say, so when do you need to, for example, need to go to a clinic? When is it next level?”
Dr replied,” Yeah, I’d say certainly no injury is too small for us to give some guidance on, especially on rehab and getting back to sport. But if you’re having trouble weight-bearing, if you notice significant bruising, swelling, uh or it’s not getting better after a few days of rest, ice, and elevation. I’d say it’d be a good time to be seen.”
Amelia Santaniello said,” Okay, I know you’re a lower extremity guy, but you did mention one point, like, just using the equipment wrong. Like, is there a right way to hold this so you’re gonna help yourself? “
Dr replied,” Yeah, so I am by no means an expert, but what I’ve learned in this um for the upper extremities is Instead of flicking the wrists and working really hard with the wrist and the elbow, turn the shoulders and kind of get the whole body into the swing is important.”
Amelia Santaniello asked Dr, ” So you’re playing tennis.
Dr said, ” Yeah, that’s essentially what it is. It certainly can be. I think one thing I’d emphasize, too, is that Minnesotans, what we call tennis shoes or a sneaker in other parts of the country, is generally referred to as, or is generally like a running shoe or a walking shoe.”
And in pickleball, when you’re moving side to side, those lateral movements, something like a court shoe is common.
A.J. Hilton: Almost like a cross-training shoe, you think?
Exactly.
Amelia Santaniello added, ” Or like a basketball?”
Dr said,” Certainly you could wear something like a basketball shoe, but they do make specific court shoes for pickleball that give you that support. A little more grip for the court, too, so that you’re not slipping and sliding.”
Amelia Santaniello,” That would make sense.”
A.J. Hilton: This is how you know pickleball’s not going anywhere anytime soon.
They’re making shoes for it now.
Dr: Yeah, they are. It’s got to be the shoes.
