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Yes, pickleball is a great form of exercise for your knees. Even if you have osteoarthritis, pickleball can be safe and fun if you manage both the intensity of your play and your recovery between sessions.
About the author:
Hi, my name is Anthony (Tony) Maritato, PT. I am a licensed physical therapist and owner of Total Therapy Solutions. I have specialized in helping clients recover from total knee replacement surgery since 2002 and have created this video to help YOU. I am new to the world of Pickleball and would love to join you on this journey.
Total Therapy Solutions
5900 Long Meadow Dr
Middletown, OH 45005
(513) 539-2886
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Hey guys, Tony Maritatto here, licensed physical therapist, and today I want to answer the question
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is pickleball good for your knees? So pickleball is one of those sports that's growing in popularity
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across the country. It started primarily as a sport that was adopted by older adults who wanted
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something other than tennis or other racket sports, and it was a great option because it's played on
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smaller court. It's usually played as a doubles game but it can be played as singles and as the
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popularity and more importantly the competitiveness of pickleball grows what you're seeing is that now
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there's more pickleball related injuries, there's higher intensity games, there are people that are
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looking at you know is this a sport that I could play if I've had a total knee replacement, an ACL
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reconstruction, meniscus repair. So I want to talk to you about pickleball specifically as it relates
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to the health of your knees. And we're going to talk about two scenarios. First, I want to discuss
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people who have otherwise healthy knees. Maybe you have a little bit of arthritis that's showing up
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but really you don't have any major damage, you don't have any major osteoarthritis or rheumatoid
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arthritis affecting the joint and so in that situation for that person pickleball is a great sport it not harmful to the knees There is a lot of rapid acceleration and more importantly deceleration
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So when you're attacking the net or you're moving quickly on the court
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forward or backward, you're accelerating your body, you're moving quick, that's fine
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But as you decelerate, if you have a quick stop, that deceleration is what really requires
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good muscular control. and that is what places extra forces through the joint. We know from clinical research that a lot
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of non-contact ACL ruptures happen when the athlete is decelerating. So one of the things
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that we're not seeing quite yet but I do think is in the future is you know the increase in the
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occurrence of ACL injuries or ruptures simply because as pickleball players get bigger, stronger
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faster they're going to be placing more loads through their knees and so if their knee is not
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ready to tolerate that rapid deceleration there is a chance for injury but that is why i put so
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much time and focus on helping my pickleball athletes that i see in my physical therapy
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clinic work on footwork work on agilities work on lateral stepping side stepping rotational stepping
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just to reduce the chances of injuries to the knee and of course injuries to the ankle and the hip Now in the case of osteoarthritis so this is basically an accumulation of wear and tear
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This is damage to the joint surfaces, the cartilage that covers the bone
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This is really common in aging adults, just like wrinkles to the skin, osteoarthritis
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degenerative changes to the joint surfaces, very common. But what happens is if you find that the
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intensity of your play is getting a little too high for your joints to handle. The symptoms you
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would experience would be increased pain, swelling, stiffness in the knees the day after you play
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What most of the athletes that I work with who are in their 50s, 60s, and 70s will tell me is that
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they feel amazing while they're playing pickleball on the court, but the day after or even that night
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that's when they pay the price. That's when their knees swell. That's when the stiffness and pain
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settles in, if they play it at 2 p.m. and then by 8 or 9 p.m. they're getting ready for bed
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they've been sitting, watching a little bit of TV, when they get to get up to go into the next room
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they feel like they can barely walk. Or when they wake up in the morning, those first couple steps
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out of bed are the most painful, the most stiff, because of the knee irritation. So that's a very
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common scenario What I would say in those situations is obviously you look at all of the factors like are you staying hydrated we know cartilage absorbs a lot of water we need enough water in our bodies to replenish the
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sweat that we're losing while we play are you looking at managing your intensity and more
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importantly are you managing your recovery you know you could have a really high intensity match
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or practice and if you don't take the time to recover before you do it again you're gonna be
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accumulating that wear and tear and that's what's going to increase your
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chances of potential injury on the court. So I would tell you that if you are
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experiencing increased stiffness and soreness the day after, go ahead and take
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an extra day of rest and recovery. Look at one of my articles on pickleball5000.com
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to see I've got seven of my favorite recovery tips after a hard workout or a
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match but the idea is as a general rule of thumb pickleball is a great sporting activity for the
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knees it's relatively low risk it's relatively high reward and the goal is you want to do something
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that gets you out gets you socializing and gets you to have fun while you're staying fit guys if
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you have questions about pickleball or anything related to orthopedic injuries i am your physical
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therapist. I'm happy to answer your questions. Let me know down in the comments below and I'll catch
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you on the next video
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#Aging & Geriatrics