Is it safe for senior citizens to play pickleball?

While pickleball has gained popularity among all ages, it initially attracted more senior citizens as it is easy to play, less physically demanding and enables socialising. — Photos: Filepic

Almost every friend I have plays pickleball these days. So I decided to take it up to continue being social. Three games in, I fell down trying to hit a ball that bounced near the net. Does playing pickleball come with the risk of injuries?

Playing any sport comes with a risk of injuries, as does doing any form of exercise – even walking comes with risk of injuries!

But not doing any physical activity also comes with the risk of having many different types of diseases later on, such as cardiovascular (heart) diseases, cancer and stroke.

So you have to pick your options well.

The trick is not to overdo any sport – and that goes for pickleball too.

The benefits of playing pickleball (or any exercise) far outweigh its risks for most people, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Playing pickleball several times a week helps you get your 150 minutes of recommended moderately-vigorous activity per week.

For seniors, it helps you with socialisation and staves off dementia as it is a very social sport that comes with you ­making plenty of new friends.

Pickleball has become particularly popular with seniors because they find it less stressful than tennis as the court is smaller, being the size of a badminton court.

So they need to run less.

You also cannot run into the part of the court nearest to the net – called the “no volley” zone because it is against the rules to put your feet there.

This makes the area you have to cover very doable.

Nevertheless, most seniors ­prefer to play doubles, so the amount of court you need to cover is even less.

What are the most common pickleball injuries?

Pickleball’s most common ­injuries come from either:

• Accidents on the pickleball court, such as falling down or sliding when you chase the ball, or
• Repetitive use injuries on your pickleball bat hand/arm – the kind you get with tennis elbow for instance.

Sprains, strains and muscle injuries are the most common type, followed by fractures.

With pickleball becoming so popular in such a short time, American studies have shown an over 10 times rise in injuries in senior people from 2010 to 2019.

Most of the injuries that ­present to the hospital are ­broken bones/fractures, with most of them caused by falls.

Players sometimes miscalculate where the ball will land, so they slide or dive to take the ball, and unfortunately, fall.

Diving or sliding to get the ball can result in injury to the upper limbs, which might even be broken if the player has osteoporosis – a common condition in older women.

Are these fractures of the arms or legs?

Most of these fall injuries are to the upper limb.

They include fractures of the humerus (upper arm bone), radius and ulna (the two lower arm bones).

This is because when you fall, you tend to instinctively throw your arms out to try to stop your whole body from slamming into the floor.

Hospital statistics also show that 80% of these upper limb fracture cases were discharged within the same day.

The patients who had to be hospitalised were usually older, like around 70 years of age or above.

There are also fractures of the legs and ankles.

Sometimes, there are rib fractures.

Are older pickleball players most at risk of getting injuries? One of my pickleball partners, who is a very good competitive player, is a 75-year-old woman!

The players that are most at risk for fractures are women over 60 because they are post- menopausal and may have osteoporosis, or at least bone density loss.

This makes their bones more brittle and susceptible to impact.

The pickleball court has a hard surface, so a fall can be of high impact.

But you should check with your doctor first if you want to take up pickleball as a sport.

You may have undetected heart issues or be at risk of a stroke that other players don’t know about.

Because pickleball involves you having to run around a lot, you need to check with your ­doctor if your cardiovascular ­system can take it, especially if you have been sedentary most of your life.

Many of my pickleball player friends have never had any injuries. But one experienced a muscle tear that was incredibly painful and she had to be admitted to hospital to see if the pain was due to other issues. It took her a month to recover.

My ex-neighbour had to have a knee replacement because he played too much and his knee cartilages wore down!

It could also happen in any sport that involves a lot of lower limb activity.

I am an older player of about 75. I love playing pickleball. But at my age, is it too dangerous then?

Not at all. It is a very good ­cardiovascular game that can be played at any age.

If you are 75 – or older than 45 to be honest(!) – you just need to check your health status first, such as your cardiovascular ­fitness and your bone density.

Both of these can be easily done in consultation with your doctor.

It can be part of your annual medical check-up.

This involves having a basic ECG (electrocardiogram) to see if there are any abnormalities in your heart and a bone densito- metry test to check the mineralisation of your bones.

Even if you have some abnormalities, you can get them treated.

The benefits of playing pickleball, or any moderately- to highly-­vigorous and very social activity, far outweigh the risks of injuries.

So if your doctor has cleared you, go for it!

You might find yourself living longer, healthier and happier.

Dr YLM graduated as a medical doctor, and has been writing for many years on various subjects such as medicine, health, ­­computers and entertainment. For further information, email [e-mail]. The information provided is for educational and communication purposes only, and it should not be construed as personal medical advice. Neither The Star nor the author gives any warranty on accuracy, completeness, functionality, usefulness or other assu-rances as to such information. The Star and the author disclaim all responsibility for any losses, damage to property or personal injury suffered directly or indirectly from reliance on such informa-tion.