Pickleball is the fastest-growing sport in the U . S .— more people are learning to play daily and are becoming addicted . Pickleball is so much fun that we sometimes forget it ’ s a sport with athletic requirements and demands on the body . In order to be successful in pickleball , there is a combination of movements that are needed :
• Forward , backward , and side-to-side motion
• Bending over ( during dinking )
• Reaching ( desperation ball outside of our base of support )
• Shoulder , elbow , and wrist motion ( overhead smash , volleys , groundstrokes , etc .)
What most players don ’ t realize is that in order to perform all these tasks successfully on the court and avoid injuries , there are baseline movement patterns that we should be able to perform . To help prevent injuries , it is therefore vital to identify faulty movement patterns and correct them . We do this by using movement screens .
What is a movement screen ? A movement screen is a series of functional movements administered by a licensed health care professional certified through Functional Movement Systems . The goal is to administer a standardized set of movements that can be objectively graded in order to determine whether someone has adequate movement patterns . Using this objective testing , faulty movement patterns can quickly be identified if present . Faulty movement patterns have been linked to higher risk for injury , so therefore identifying them and correcting them as soon as possible is imperative . Here is a concrete example to make sense of all this : John Doe has been a regular pickleball player for the past two years . One day he shows up to the courts , and three people are on a court . They quickly ask him to join them . John steps on the court , hits a few dinks , a couple of drives from the baseline , maybe a serve or two and says , “ OK , I ’ m good to go !” Well , three points into the match , John ’ s opponent hits a drop shot , and when John pushes off his right ankle to sprint forward to get to that ball , he pulls a hamstring . John therefore stops playing and goes home disappointed and frustrated by the injury . Now the obvious conclusion is that John should have maybe warmed up more to avoid pulling his hamstring . However , here is the rest of the story :
John goes to a physical therapist who performs a total body diagnostic movement screen . During the examination , John mentions he sprained his ankle on the same side as the hamstring injury a year ago but did not seek professional treatment and was limping to avoid pain in his right ankle for a few weeks . As a result , he developed stiffness in his ankle and weakness in his gluteal musculature since he was compensating by using the opposite leg more . When performing the total body movement screen , the physical therapist noticed that John was unable to perform a squat because of limited ankle motion and had problems with performing a basic gluteal activation test . Well , guess what is between the ankle and the gluteal musculature — the hamstrings ! Fast-forward to a year later , and John ends up pulling a hamstring on that same side and is dealing with a chronic hamstring problem that won ’ t go away .
The point is : If John had consulted a professional prior to his hamstring injury , these faulty movement patterns would have been identified , addressed , and corrected . His gluteal activation and strength would have been greater , reducing the stress placed on his hamstrings , and his ankle mobility would have been improved , which would have reduced compensation strategies he had been using for the past year . These factors that directly contributed to his injury would have been mitigated , and John may not have hurt himself .
While warming up properly prior to playing is certainly important , if underlying faulty movement patterns are present , it is just a matter of time before an injury occurs . One last way to think about it is this : Don ’ t wait until your tooth hurts to see a dentist . The same can be applied to your body : Don ’ t wait to be injured to consult a health care professional !
Consulting a qualified health care professional who can administer movement screens can be worth your weight in gold .
To learn more , you can contact The Pickleball Doctor , Noe Sariban , at
noe @ moveitpt . com . He is the owner of Move It Physical Therapy in Chapel Hill , North Carolina . Free 10-minute consults are available to see if it ’ s a good fit , and virtual sessions are available if you are not in the area . Movement Screens can be performed virtually , and Noe can provide you with the appropriate guidance to make sure you are ready to play this sport we all love ! •
Noe Sariban is a Doctor of Physical Therapy and owner of Move It Physical Therapy in Chapel Hill , NC . He is a certified pickleball teaching professional through the IPTPA , an Engage sponsored athlete , and the Team Engage physical therapist . Visit
thepickleballdoctor . com for more information on injury prevention and rehabilitation tips . You can also like his Facebook page ,
facebook . com / pickleballdoctor , for updates and new information .
MARCH / APRIL 2022 | MAGAZINE 75