Pickleball is taking off in a major way for good reason. Playing pickleball is a great way to get some exercise, stay healthy & form a supportive friend group and community. It’s something we are in dire need of in our country and it’s overall a good thing that Pickleball is quickly becoming an American past time as the fastest growing sport.
However, if you’re someone who suffers from knee issues, your knee pain will become fast growing as well if start to play pickleball.
Why Pickleball is rough on your knees
Let’s face it, – playing a lot of Pickleball puts a lot of strain on the major ligaments and tendons in your knees. We don’t have to look farther than Tennis, Pickleball’s elitist cousin. to know that ankle and knee injuries are very common in sports where actively volleying a ball back and forth over a net is fundamental to the game.
But why is this? Just like other racket sports, playing pickleball involves tons lateral movement on hard surfaces like a blacktop or tennis courts. When moving in all directions, your ligaments and muscles wear down more easily and are susceptible to damage. When this side to side movement and moderate jumping/lunging to hit a Pickleball is repeated, the ligaments in your knee start to wear down and could eventually tear.
The knee has four major ligaments that Pickleball may affect, and surely you have heard of them before. They are the ACL, MCL, PCL and LCL. When ruptured, these tendons can cause some damage and really throw a wrench into your life’s plans. For example, it takes over a year on average to recover from an ACL tear! That’s not something you want happening.
Luckily, there are ways to prevent this from happening.
How to prevent from knee injury in Pickleball
I wouldn’t be surprised if most avid Pickleball players regularly sustain serious leg injuries. Some of these extend past the knee, such as ankle injuries like achilles tendon strains.
But there are ways to proactively prevent these injuries. Let’s talk about some ways to avoid serious knee injuries.
Preventative Weight Training
When I was doing a ton of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and wrestling, I had terrible knee pain. It also didn’t help that I played quite a bit of basketball.
This all changed when I started squatting. Weight training to strengthen your legs is absolutely critical in preventing injury. It might seem counterintuitive because many people get injured lifting heavy weights, but safe and controlled weight training can strengthen ligaments in your knee and prevent pain and injury to your knees.
Weight training to prevent knee injury can be a good strategy for Pickleball players who don’t want to sustain this knee damage. Strengthening your quads means strengthening your knees, so it’s important to try to get to the gym and not skip leg day.
And I get it, it’s hard to get to the gym. Even something as simple as doing 100 body squats per week could help in prevention of knee injury, as it is low impact and will help to fortify those muscles and ligaments in and around your knees to prepare you for those hard surfaces you’ll face when you play Pickleball. Here are a few other ideas of how to strengthen your leg muscles to prevent from pickleball injuries.
- 20 squats per day
- 10 lunges per day on each side when you wake up
- 10 minute wall sit 3 times per week
- Chair yoga pose every day for 5 minutes
- Side lunges to increase range motion of knees
There are ways to strengthen your knee ligaments to prevent these types of injuries, and it doesn’t take a ton of time. It’s just a matter of making them a priority.
Preventative equipment
The next step after strengthening your knees to the best of your ability is to wear protective equipment on your knees. Just as a basketball player would wear an ankle brace to prevent an Achilles tendon rupture or ankle sprain, you should wear a knee brace to prevent from knee sprains and other serious knee injuries. Here is a good place to start if you are looking for a knee brace that is great for Pickleball.
Preventative Stretching & Warming Up
And finally, once that knee brace is on, it’s important to warm up before every game. Here are some good active warmups to do before any Pickleball match that will both loosen up and stretch your knees to prevent injury:
- Butt kicks
- Knees to chest
- Side to Side shuffles
- Forward and Reverse Lunges
- Alternating Side Lunges
Conclusion – Does Pickleball hurt your knees?
The truth is that Pickleball can hurt your knees if you have sensitive or weak knees. Older people have to be especially carefull when playing Pickleball and make sure they aren’t putting too much strain on their knees. Even if you’re addicted to the great game of Pickleball and want to play every day, it’s important to follow the advice above and take the preventative measure to ensure your knees are staying healthy
Of course, you could just forego all of this advice and cough up the cash for an artificial knee replacement surgery. But not all of us can afford that. So we have to do the best with what god gave us! if this is you, try to follow some of this advice to prevent pickleball injuries that involve your precious knees.