Feature
Wear the Proper Shoes and Eye Protection
Medina said players should wear the proper shoes during a match to avoid tripping and falling on the court . He recommended court shoes , not running shoes that have soles that could snag on the court surface and cause a fall .
Young players tend to play at a faster pace and hit the ball harder . As a result , Medina advises that younger players in particular should wear eye protection , such as safety glasses , to avoid injuries that could come from getting hit in the face with a shot . “ They ’ re up there ( at the net ), and they ’ re smashing that ball . And then they get hit in the face or they get hit in the eye . Those would be , I think , the injuries that you would see , whereas the seniors , they ’ re not usually hitting the ball as hard and fast . Not that they shouldn ’ t wear eye protection , but it ’ s probably less of a type of injury for them than it would be for the younger people .”
Know Your Limits
Medina said players in their 20s , 30s and 40s are susceptible to overuse injuries . They ’ re perhaps not as active as they were in college , and then they ’ re introduced to pickleball and want to play all the time . New players should ease their way into the sport instead of just assuming they can move around like they did when they were a few years younger and maybe a few pounds lighter .
Medina has seen many people go “ from zero exercise to three hours a day , six or seven days a week ,” but explained that such a shock to the body could result in chronic injuries , such as tendinitis and “ pickleball elbow .” He said players should be realistic about what their bodies can and can ’ t do at their age . They could sprain their ankles or twist their knees by lunging for a ball or making a sudden movement — something they had no trouble doing when they were younger . “ They go beyond what their body can take . Maybe they didn ’ t warm up beforehand , or maybe they just are out of shape . But in their brain , they ’ re still playing like they were 25 years old ,” Medina said . “ That ’ s the problem I have sometimes . If you don ’ t play within your physical limits for your age and you ’ re still imagining yourself as you were 30 , 40 years ago and think , ‘ Oh yeah , I could do that ,’ your body says , ‘ No , you can ’ t .’”
Get Proper Education
In general , Medina recommended that all players get properly educated about pickleball to limit the possibility of getting injured . Players should take pickleball lessons or a class to learn how to properly hit an overhead shot instead of simply running backward , which might seem like the natural thing to do but could lead to someone tripping and falling on the court .
“ For a lot of people , they fall and don ’ t know how to tuck and roll ,” he added . “ If they ’ re falling , they just automatically put their arms out or their hands out . That could jam up their wrists and / or their clavicle .” Medina noted that a good pickleball coach will also tell new players that they shouldn ’ t play so much early on , in the same way a good running coach would warn a new runner about running 5-6 miles a day .
“ Getting good education is probably one of the biggest things that you can do to help prevent injuries .” •
Alex Abrams has written about Olympic sports for more than 15 years , including as a reporter for major newspapers in Florida , Arkansas and Oklahoma . He is a freelance contributor to USA Pickleball on behalf of Red Line Editorial , Inc .
To learn more : https :// usapickleball . org / play / health-safety
60 TO SUBSCRIBE , CALL 412.914.8294 OR GO TO PICKLEBALLMAGAZINE . COM