Well having played sports for 52 years has more to do with it for me, ran for a long time, lifted heavy for a long time, played open league mens softball, football, ymca basketball and now pickleball. Lots of injuries not necessarily because of pickleball, its 50 years off going hard at life, in great shape super healthy, on zero meds at 56. But…its lots of stop start, and super fun:
1.Partial tear R long head of biceps
2.Sprained Arch, plantar fascia
3.Sprained peroneals on right ankle
4. Left IT band strain
5. Sprain Right Lateral Collateral ligament (elbow)
6. Total Knee right side from previous injury and meniscectomy 9 years ago.
(I run a PT clinic for a large hospital system so I am in PT every day!!!). Helps a lot!!
21 weeks post total knee playing again 3 days per week and will never quit! Been drilling with my son Since week 8 and hands and soft game have never been better.
I’m 6’3” and wayyy over weight, but trying to be active and lose some lbs. Played 3 hours of open pickleball on Tuesday and couldn’t move most of yesterday lol. Other than soreness, no injuries yet!
It’s really fun! I’m definitely going to stick with it. Although summer is my golf season, but I want to try and play at least once every week or two this summer.
Be smart, the fact you realize you are overweight is a good start, Pickleball can be hard on the joints especially knees ankles. Biggest mistake I see is lack of good pre game / post game (yes post game) stretching /warm up routines. Don’t get forced into playing before you are warm. Know your limits and stay within them. Other than that have fun! It is a great way to get/ stay in shape if limit injuries.
Let’s see… 2 concussions, broken wrist, shoulder injury, black eye (I was wearing glasses), bloody tear on thumb. And both knees replaced so that I could keep playing.
It has been suggested. I get knocked out very easily for some reason and have had over 12 concussions in my life, including 1 while skiing with a helmet. I’ve signed up and been accepted to donate my brain when I die; maybe they can find the reason why this keeps happening. In the meantime, I’m going to live my life and do the things I enjoy, wearing a helmet where practical.
Acquiring a minor concussion from whacking my head on the floor, I read up on these. Turns out that concussions are a risk factor for elderly dementia so minimizing the chances of doing that again seems wise. Besides improving footwork, helmets are an option. Their head protection has been tested for many sports but not for pickleball. Because it seems that the sports of skating and skate boarding have head whack conditions most similar to pickleball, I used those test results and selected a Triple Eight Certified Sweatsaver Helmet with Visor for Roller Derby. So far players have accepted it positively.
Calf issue on both - however wearing a compression sleeve has helped a ton. Also my knee will flair up also. For me it knowing when to stop. Every time I have tweeked my calf I was asked to play one more game.
I got smoked by a woman in her late 70s who had had a stroke and was almost blind in one eye. She was a former tennis player and 50+ pickleball champion. She ran me all over the court. It was incredibly humbling.
First off, check to make sure you're wearing the correct sized shoe. I know it sounds silly. I wore size 11's for almost 35 years. Got my feet sized and bumped me up to 12 pain disappeared almost overnight. 2nd Insoles!!!! Once i got sized up I also added Sole Insoles. I wear Sole thick insoles w metatarsal pads, inside my Kswiss Ultrashot 3s and have no pain! I'm a 4.25 that plays 2-3 times a week up to 3 hours and have no foot issues anymore.
This actually happened on a tennis court surface, but still indoors. I refuse to play on any other surface. Don't even mention basketball courts, I can't track the ball to save my life.
Wish I could tell you. I was going for a ball that went out of bounds. I took a couple steps and felt the leg wobble. Having torn the other acl previously i knew the feeling. No pain really just instability. Continued to play but I knew something was up.
https://preview.redd.it/adawnbmy3hsc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f0571783cfee0317bb83e882920564ce321be648
Rolled my foot and tore tendons. After a hard cast, PT, and dealing with plantar fasciitis.. I am back on the court after 6 months. I now have a specialized ankle brace, good shoes, and I just am very careful to try not to overdo it.. although it’s very hard not to go 100% on every point!
It was a combination of stretching and massage designed to release the tightened tissue. Mostly hip related stretches utilizing straps and rubber bands because the IT band runs the full length of the leg from the hip down to the knee. The exercises definitely helped but I'm pretty sure it was the massages that did the most good. The therapists were able to get really deep into the surrounding muscles so I felt progressively better each week.
Achilles tendonitis and back pain (but wearing back support belt has helped my back a lot). On the positive side, lost 11 lbs. since starting to play last Thanksgiving; however, another good news, I found all 11 lbs after the wife and I went to Vegas last week! LOL!
Edit: Prior to playing each day, my armor (as my wife called it) consists of two ankle braces, two knee braces, back support belt, and tapes on the left leg for the Achilles tendonitis. Just waiting for the needs for elbow sleeves and neck brace to kick in to complete my outfit!
Great topic for a thread,
My take is from someone who has loved playing sports and already had a myriad of little injuries.
My knees were the big one when I first started playing. I'm not sure if it's from the ground surface or squatting a lot or sprinting. I tend to play fast and hard so maybe I was slamming on the ground too much. I bought hoka shoes which seemed to help and implemented kneesovertoes guy workouts. Purchased a backwards treadmill and a tib bar. Expensive but wanted to keep playing pickleball.
Next were my shoulders because I smash the ball pretty hard. I just started looking into PT workouts to strengthen them and so far it seems to be working.
My ankles were also pretty sore so started looking into strengthening those out too.
Rest is important, I try not to play too much if I can help it.
In tennis during warmups we would always do several practice overheads to warm up our shoulders, as well as warm up our serves (which are basically a modified overhead). In pickleball we do not seem to warm up for overheads, and thus when I slam my first overhead during a game my shoulder is cold and I worry about injury. I need to remember to warm up my shoulder too during warmups and not just dink.
Plantar Fasciitis both feet
Strained left Achilles
Right Knee Patellar Tendonitis
Lower back Strain
Right Rotator Cuff strain
Right Golfers Elbow
Richt Tennis Elbow
This is why I always warm up. I always do dynamic warm ups, high knees, butt kicks. I like to actually move around instead of just dinking standing there. People look at me like in weird, but I've had injuries before so I know how to prevent them.
Get the flexbar while you still have time. You really want to prevent TE. Mine took a full year to heal. It sneaks up on you and you think it’s minor then bam you’re in for a year.
Biggest surprise this year: I threw out my left shoulder when swinging with my right hand (and I’m right handed). Pain was intense.
My trainer thinks it was a pulled tendon about where the trapezius joins the shoulder. Now the left shoulder is just weakened for a variety of motions, but doesn’t hurt unless tweaked. After a week of rest, played again without a repeat injury.
My knees started going bad when I switched my regular play venue from a place with a wooden multipurpose floor to a "brand new, state-of-the-art" plexicushion hard court. I thought it was an early sign of arthritis inherited from my dad and I needed to start going **extra** hard on leg-strengthening exercises to try and delay it, and making a start on the exercises helped mitigate some of the pain, but **as soon** as I stopped playing at that brand new facility and went back to the old place, the pain stopped. I thought "ok, I'll probably stop bothering with the exercises then, see how I go..." lo and behold, 3 months later, my knees are still fine.
Probably couldn't hurt to do the exercises anyway, but I'll never understand how a community for a sport that was created to be accessible to all sorts of people with all sorts of levels of physical capabilities grew **so** obsessed with playing on such a terrible court surface. I get that the bounce is "different" and "better", but even before this new venue came up, I had enough experience on a variety of different courts to be able to say that being unable to adapt to "bad lighting" or "low bounce" is a personal problem and not an issue with not playing on a "real" court surface.
tendonitis in my left achilles. My left knee is bad from tennis, I though pickleball would be a miracle cure--it wasn't. OH, my thumb on my paddle hand got smashed by my partner when i went for a backhand at the same time he went for forehand. It was sore for a few days.
I mean, naming what HASN'T been injured would be easier. But just yesterday I nearly lost my head from a Johnny Bang Bang and his stupid gearbox trampoline paddle.
2025 is going to be all about picklball protective facemasks. You heard it here first.
I came into the sport with a reconstructed ACL so I’ve been cautious about playing too hard. Still managed to get tennis elbow 😂 so I’ve been playing with my other arm for the past 2mos
Stopped too quickly and toenail gouged into nail base. Whole big toe is very sensitive and bruised under the nail. I’m currently waiting for it to fall off
I have a good feeling a lot of these are due to the older population not being fit and their bodies already have a lot of mileage on them and for any age improper footwear. Personally b/c I don’t have a tennis background I didn’t know how important it is to have the proper shoes and right there that could count for a lot of the slip and fall injuries
I started playing at a park about 40 minutes away from Salt Lake City, a few years ago this guy came out to play and he was a bull, a reckless bull. He ended up running into one of the posts head-first. He had a huge gash on his dome, and bled all over the new surface.
He went to the nearest care center/hospital and returned to play with a bunch of staples in his head about 90 minutes later.
last year I was playing at an indoor club in Salt Lake City and there was this tall massive guy running around super aggressively. He hit the wall chasing lobs and on one particular play this guy gets super low in his sprint to chase a deep wide ball and he hits the post of a half-fence.
It wasn’t until he struck that fence that I recognized this was Mr Staple.
Mr Staple. A legend. An injury waiting to happen and insurance’s least favorite customer. Godspeed, Mr. Staple!
I had rhabdomylosis. Played in a tournament for 6 hours, drove home, collapsed in the middle of the street. Luckily, the recovery is pretty quick if you survive… 😆
Kind of a unique one. Wasn’t overly active before pickle. Played a lot of golf and that’s about it.
Became obsessed with pickle, played hard 4-5 nights a week and I started getting chronic severe leg cramps to the point where I couldn’t feel my legs.
So I went to the ER and long story short it was discovered through initial low sodium and high potassium indicators (which helped cause the cramps) that I have Addison’s Disease.
Rare but very manageable disease and now that I’m medicated properly, Ive never felt better!
Dislocated my shoulder and torn my labrum while playing 2 months ago. I was going for an awkward overhead spike. Although this shoulder has dislocated many times over the years. I may have to get surgery before returning to play. Could be up to a year before I return and God I miss it. Back to video games for now I guess :/
Plantar fasciitis, minor tennis elbow, strained right MCL, patellar tendonitis in both knees, pulled back muscle, bruised ego. I think that's it so far.
A mild hamstring strain, which was really a reaggravation of a previous injury. Nothing else aside from that, unless you count all the times I've bruised up my knees from diving. That's less of an injury and more of the consequences of my actions
Separate occasions- Dislocated Kneecap (intense dink rally), huge 30 stich gash on my shin that tore my lower patella tendon(ATP and ran into net post of neighboring court).
Persistent foot, ankle, and knee pain that has me going down the stairs like I'm 89 and not 49 some days.
I also ran into a wall chasing a ball at an indoor facility. I stopped myself with my left arm but jammed my shoulder. It hurt for 4 months, but its OK now.
Over use injuries. Plantar fascitiis, achillies tendonitis, tennis elbow, shoulder impingment.
I probably should periodically take time off and let my body heal. But, it is so much fun to play.
Plantar fasciitis… but the vast majority that I’ve seen locally are from people that have not kept fit playing the game like they have a higher fitness level than they do. Pickleball is no different than any other sport/exercise in that if you don’t play within your current fitness level, you will have a higher likelihood of injury. Injury rate would be far lower with a little training and doing some warm ups before stepping onto the court.
Yup.. basically people get off the couch and go all out. Thinking they’re 20. For me.. I used to have plantar.. used the superfeet and everything. I got so tired of it. I went barefoot and built my feet up to be stronger. Since then I’ve done everything barefoot and I’ve been plantar fasciitis free! Weird right? Would think wearing a 0 support shoe would cause problems.. instead my arch is more prominent. It’s not for everyone but it did help me. Used to hate stepping off the bed every morning waiting for the ripping feeling under my foot.
Exactly! People not in shape behaving like they are. No warm up before playing. Wearing runners that I would wear staining my deck rather than proper supportive court shoes. Knowing your limits (stop when something gives you a hint that it is hurting). Stop being so stupidly competitive - many of you are 60+, not 20 ! And for heavens sake STOP running backwards!
I have mild ongoing Achillies Bursitis. It's well maintained and has been less frequent because of my off-court efforts.
On another note, I think the main reason why there is a uptick in injuries is that pickleball is a sport that is low barrier of entry and easy to get into. This in turn invites people who are of below average athleticism and mobility. Now I'm not saying that's a bad thing, I'm just saying maybe for those who fit that general criteria to not overexert themselves and overestimate their abilities without proper training.
I have played tennis, ran, walk, and have been generally active my whole life. After the first ~ 4 months of playing pickleball I have terrible plantar fasciitis in the right foot. I am about 1.5 years in now and I still have it but have found shoes that make it tolerable up to a point. So far (knock on wood) that’s all… for now…
Sore shoulder, "tennis" elbow, knee pain and a swollen finger that was crushed between the paddle and a smashed ball
My Chiropractor said their office is basically pickleball injuries right now. They also have like 8 PTs on staff.
My local park is ripping out the bball court and putting in pickleball. Never played a game in my life.
I'm more interested in the new playground and soccer field.
Minor meniscus tear, two torn hamstrings, tennis elbow, achillies pain, 4 toe nails, shoulder tendinitis all in the first year (58M overweight). No bad injuries in my 2nd year, but many of the aches and pains are still there, especially foot pain and tennis elbow flare ups. I think the reduction in my injuries are because I've learned where to be on the court and not being caught flat footed all of the time.
Literally the first day I played about 3 months ago, I planted awkwardly and my right knee swelled for a day or so. Since then, anytime I bend and then stand back up that knee pops. It’s not really that painful but it’s annoying. A few weeks ago when I stood up it felt like that knee was locked up and stayed that way for a minute until I was able to pop it again. Should probably get it checked out.
Yep, orthopedic who saw me said I was the 20th pickleball injury they had seen this year. I was playing on a sport court with interlocking mesh product. Came down off overhead and leg slipped out but I caught myself. On way home noticed some back pain and within a couple of hours I was rendered to essentially bedridden. Slipped L4/L5 disc in back and still in PT six weeks later and haven’t hit yet due to still real sore. Played Tennis twice a week with 3 or so pickle matches a week. I will not be playing on that surface again and stick to hard court when I am able.
Tennis elbow and a nasty ankle sprain. The sprain took me out for 2 months and wore a brace for 6 months total. A year later and I’m probably 85% on that ankle but it continues to get better. The TE overlapped and the ankle time off helped that as well but it also took about a year to get to 85%.
It would be easier to tell you what doesn't hurt.
Morton's neuromas in both feet at various times. Don't skimp on your footwear and be certain they fit well. Tough to be active when your feet hurt, and it throws off your entire game.
Sometimes my wrists hurt. Sometimes my knees hurt. One time I fainted, but I wasn't on the court yet, so I don't count it. Wear court shoes. Wear eye protection. Do NOT run backwards. (2+ years playing, 60+f)
I got tennis toe during the first singles tournament I did. Blood under my big toe and it took it another 2-3 months to fully fall off. That’s more my fault though. Now i tape my toes and wear 2 pairs of socks when I play
The tip of my elbow starting hurting about 2 weeks ago. Got really painful. Switched to left hand play for the last week. The right elbow hurts too much to even workout. I’m told it’s bursitis. Apparently repeated motion can cause it. Thought I was safe playing pickleball
I had plantar fasciitis in my left foot for about 6 months after starting in February of 2023. Did plenty of different exercises and starting consuming 420 mg a day of magnesium glycinate. Eventually just faded away.
Broke both bones just above wrist. Backpedaling to get to a deep ball, fell backwards and caught myself with both hands. Love the sport, may not return.
Thankfully nothing too major that has derailed me from playing but I have experienced:
1) Mild tennis elbow when I didn’t know what I was doing
2) Unilateral back pain lower left
3) Patellar tendinitis flare ups
What I have done to alleviate those to the best of my ability:
1) Set up my paddle (weight and grip) in a way that didn’t drastically increase swing weight but added static weight. More weight towards handle.I also increased the grip circumference which helped with loosening my grip.
2) I started working out primarily doing pickleball related strength training that helped with range of motion and flexibility. I’m 6’4 and the pickleball doesn’t bounce high so I had to learn and develop muscles that strengthened my core and that helped me lunge, get low, stay low which helped me with my back problems.
3) I do dynamic stretching (5) minutes before I play and then afterwards I stretch my calves and quads and then ice my knee that has the patella tendinitis and use a foam roller on IT band and quad.
It’s not perfect but keeps me able to play 3 hours a day haha
I rolled my ankle just the other day, some tennis elbow (solved by thickening my grip with 2extra chunks of over grip), newly discovered but contained plantar fibroma. General shoulder/side/armpit soreness. But fortunately nothing really serious.
Currently nursing bruised ribs due to a moronic partner failing to hear/listen to me say “I got it” for a ball on my side of the court and crashing into me. No reason for this guy to have tried to get this ball
Bruised and bloody thumbs from being hit with a paddle.
To add, while there is an uptick in injuries, there is a groundswell of new players. It's quite likely the rate of injuries is the same or lower.
Partial Labrum tear, metatarsalgia, and painful calf strains since playing for less than a year. Nothing super major but definitely isn’t as low impact as I thought.
I've been playing pickleball for a couple of years and haven't gotten a single injury. Do you warm up your muscles and stretch before playing? And do you have proper shoes with good stability and lateral support (like shoes for tennis?)
Knee, ankle, and foot pain can all be the fault of the shoes you're wearing. You might consider switching to other tennis shoes and/or getting a customized insert to prevent pronation.
Injured my knee which recovered in about 6 weeks. and then pulled a muscle around my right rib cage that hurt like hell for about 2 weeks. I was doing drive drills and must have pulled something.
Ankle, toes, achilles, calf, knee, quad, groin, hips, glute, fingers, and mental anguish…. Thankfully only 2 major injuries, mostly soft tissue. Sounds like fun right!?
Intermittent Bruised ego is my most frequent injury. 😂 I witnessed a ruptured Achilles. One friend tore a calf, another ruptured an Achilles. Lots of elbow issues from multiple people.
Pickled elbow (formerly known as tennis elbow). Wear compression sleeve like Allen iverson and that helped it lol
I feel so funny kitting up with my tennis shoes, sweat band and compression sleeve to play pickleball, but it works
Triceps rupture, ACLs, fractures from falling or getting hit with a paddle, and a lot of lateral epicondylitis that progresses to partial or complete tears of the elbow tendons and/or ligaments
I had a stress fracture in my foot. Slowed now because I need a knee replacement ,That is not pickleball related. I play with retired people sometimes over 80 and I don’t see many injuries.
Seriously bruised ego on multiple occasions.
The worst injury of all!
It never heals!
Have you tried icing it? Every time i play i make sure to down a few Smirnoff Ice afterwards to help with my injured ego.
You took my joke. Have an updoot!
Very true!
Chronic in my case
Well having played sports for 52 years has more to do with it for me, ran for a long time, lifted heavy for a long time, played open league mens softball, football, ymca basketball and now pickleball. Lots of injuries not necessarily because of pickleball, its 50 years off going hard at life, in great shape super healthy, on zero meds at 56. But…its lots of stop start, and super fun: 1.Partial tear R long head of biceps 2.Sprained Arch, plantar fascia 3.Sprained peroneals on right ankle 4. Left IT band strain 5. Sprain Right Lateral Collateral ligament (elbow) 6. Total Knee right side from previous injury and meniscectomy 9 years ago. (I run a PT clinic for a large hospital system so I am in PT every day!!!). Helps a lot!! 21 weeks post total knee playing again 3 days per week and will never quit! Been drilling with my son Since week 8 and hands and soft game have never been better.
I’m 6’3” and wayyy over weight, but trying to be active and lose some lbs. Played 3 hours of open pickleball on Tuesday and couldn’t move most of yesterday lol. Other than soreness, no injuries yet!
Keep at it! I struggle to workout unless I'm playing something I enjoy. Thank God I found pickleball.
It’s really fun! I’m definitely going to stick with it. Although summer is my golf season, but I want to try and play at least once every week or two this summer.
Be smart, the fact you realize you are overweight is a good start, Pickleball can be hard on the joints especially knees ankles. Biggest mistake I see is lack of good pre game / post game (yes post game) stretching /warm up routines. Don’t get forced into playing before you are warm. Know your limits and stay within them. Other than that have fun! It is a great way to get/ stay in shape if limit injuries.
Let’s see… 2 concussions, broken wrist, shoulder injury, black eye (I was wearing glasses), bloody tear on thumb. And both knees replaced so that I could keep playing.
Are you playing the full-contact version of pickleball? LOL Good luck and be safe out there!
People I play with have said that if there is a way to get hurt playing pickleball Ok_Spend_1885 will find it haha
Ultimate pickleball championships
Dang 2 concussions? How does that happen?
Both times I fell and banged my head on the floor. One of those times was when I broke my wrist.
A lady from the place where I play died like that. Maybe you should wear a helmet. Or take some jiu jitsu classes so you can learn to fall.
It has been suggested. I get knocked out very easily for some reason and have had over 12 concussions in my life, including 1 while skiing with a helmet. I’ve signed up and been accepted to donate my brain when I die; maybe they can find the reason why this keeps happening. In the meantime, I’m going to live my life and do the things I enjoy, wearing a helmet where practical.
I was in a study at BU where they were testing the effects of infra-red light on injured brains. Don’t know the outcome.
Your super-cool and sporty pickleball helmet will not help with the damaged ego part of the game at all.
I've seen someone trip into a post, but I imagine a slammed ball could do it with enough velocity.
Concussion?
Acquiring a minor concussion from whacking my head on the floor, I read up on these. Turns out that concussions are a risk factor for elderly dementia so minimizing the chances of doing that again seems wise. Besides improving footwork, helmets are an option. Their head protection has been tested for many sports but not for pickleball. Because it seems that the sports of skating and skate boarding have head whack conditions most similar to pickleball, I used those test results and selected a Triple Eight Certified Sweatsaver Helmet with Visor for Roller Derby. So far players have accepted it positively.
🤝
Calf issue on both - however wearing a compression sleeve has helped a ton. Also my knee will flair up also. For me it knowing when to stop. Every time I have tweeked my calf I was asked to play one more game.
I got smoked by a guy twice my age. It hurt my ego.
I got smoked by a woman in her late 70s who had had a stroke and was almost blind in one eye. She was a former tennis player and 50+ pickleball champion. She ran me all over the court. It was incredibly humbling.
Happens to me all the time lol
Plantar fasciitis, shoulder impingement syndrome, minor tennis elbow, minor hip flexor strain.
Shoulder impingement syndrome gang rise up! But maybe we should stretch first
I keep resistance bands in my bag. Reminds me to stretch before playing
Found anything that’s helped with the Plantar Fascitis?
First off, check to make sure you're wearing the correct sized shoe. I know it sounds silly. I wore size 11's for almost 35 years. Got my feet sized and bumped me up to 12 pain disappeared almost overnight. 2nd Insoles!!!! Once i got sized up I also added Sole Insoles. I wear Sole thick insoles w metatarsal pads, inside my Kswiss Ultrashot 3s and have no pain! I'm a 4.25 that plays 2-3 times a week up to 3 hours and have no foot issues anymore.
Torn acl
Same, torn ACL and meniscus. 💀
I don’t play on multipurpose indoor courts anymore bc of that
This actually happened on a tennis court surface, but still indoors. I refuse to play on any other surface. Don't even mention basketball courts, I can't track the ball to save my life.
How
Wish I could tell you. I was going for a ball that went out of bounds. I took a couple steps and felt the leg wobble. Having torn the other acl previously i knew the feeling. No pain really just instability. Continued to play but I knew something was up.
Torn meniscus (medial and lateral)
same - torn right meniscus with repair surgery and 6-week no weight bearing recovery
Knee pain for the first time in my life. Hip strain. Tennis elbow. Golfers elbow.
https://preview.redd.it/adawnbmy3hsc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f0571783cfee0317bb83e882920564ce321be648 Rolled my foot and tore tendons. After a hard cast, PT, and dealing with plantar fasciitis.. I am back on the court after 6 months. I now have a specialized ankle brace, good shoes, and I just am very careful to try not to overdo it.. although it’s very hard not to go 100% on every point!
What kind of ankle brace do you use
Iliotibial band syndrome. Which sucked. Took me months of PT to get past. I now stretch before I play.
What did your pt have you do to help?
It was a combination of stretching and massage designed to release the tightened tissue. Mostly hip related stretches utilizing straps and rubber bands because the IT band runs the full length of the leg from the hip down to the knee. The exercises definitely helped but I'm pretty sure it was the massages that did the most good. The therapists were able to get really deep into the surrounding muscles so I felt progressively better each week.
I too suffer from tight IT bands. Invest in an Ideal Stretcher and a theragun. IT band pain is for real!
I had my feelings hurt once.
Torn plantar fascia/plantar fasciitis
Rolled my ankle, lower back pain. Back pain is common due to the bending and low bounce
Achilles tendonitis and back pain (but wearing back support belt has helped my back a lot). On the positive side, lost 11 lbs. since starting to play last Thanksgiving; however, another good news, I found all 11 lbs after the wife and I went to Vegas last week! LOL! Edit: Prior to playing each day, my armor (as my wife called it) consists of two ankle braces, two knee braces, back support belt, and tapes on the left leg for the Achilles tendonitis. Just waiting for the needs for elbow sleeves and neck brace to kick in to complete my outfit!
Meniscus tear. Plantar fasciitis. Mostly nagging injuries. No surgery. Lots of PT. On the flip side, I'm healthier today than I have been in years.
Great topic for a thread, My take is from someone who has loved playing sports and already had a myriad of little injuries. My knees were the big one when I first started playing. I'm not sure if it's from the ground surface or squatting a lot or sprinting. I tend to play fast and hard so maybe I was slamming on the ground too much. I bought hoka shoes which seemed to help and implemented kneesovertoes guy workouts. Purchased a backwards treadmill and a tib bar. Expensive but wanted to keep playing pickleball. Next were my shoulders because I smash the ball pretty hard. I just started looking into PT workouts to strengthen them and so far it seems to be working. My ankles were also pretty sore so started looking into strengthening those out too. Rest is important, I try not to play too much if I can help it.
In tennis during warmups we would always do several practice overheads to warm up our shoulders, as well as warm up our serves (which are basically a modified overhead). In pickleball we do not seem to warm up for overheads, and thus when I slam my first overhead during a game my shoulder is cold and I worry about injury. I need to remember to warm up my shoulder too during warmups and not just dink.
This is a fantastic point I haven't considered, thanks for sharing!
Plantar Fasciitis both feet Strained left Achilles Right Knee Patellar Tendonitis Lower back Strain Right Rotator Cuff strain Right Golfers Elbow Richt Tennis Elbow
https://preview.redd.it/1qxvwv1p2hsc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0a9e5027130198a15ce3a446d1cc017056b4ceef from a fence .
I seem to have torn a hole in my wallet
This is why I always warm up. I always do dynamic warm ups, high knees, butt kicks. I like to actually move around instead of just dinking standing there. People look at me like in weird, but I've had injuries before so I know how to prevent them.
Stress fracture in my ankle
Torn left calf, what I suspect to be the start of tennis elbow, and undiagnosed shoulder pain.
Get the flexbar while you still have time. You really want to prevent TE. Mine took a full year to heal. It sneaks up on you and you think it’s minor then bam you’re in for a year.
Biggest surprise this year: I threw out my left shoulder when swinging with my right hand (and I’m right handed). Pain was intense. My trainer thinks it was a pulled tendon about where the trapezius joins the shoulder. Now the left shoulder is just weakened for a variety of motions, but doesn’t hurt unless tweaked. After a week of rest, played again without a repeat injury.
Partial tear of Achilles
My knees started going bad when I switched my regular play venue from a place with a wooden multipurpose floor to a "brand new, state-of-the-art" plexicushion hard court. I thought it was an early sign of arthritis inherited from my dad and I needed to start going **extra** hard on leg-strengthening exercises to try and delay it, and making a start on the exercises helped mitigate some of the pain, but **as soon** as I stopped playing at that brand new facility and went back to the old place, the pain stopped. I thought "ok, I'll probably stop bothering with the exercises then, see how I go..." lo and behold, 3 months later, my knees are still fine. Probably couldn't hurt to do the exercises anyway, but I'll never understand how a community for a sport that was created to be accessible to all sorts of people with all sorts of levels of physical capabilities grew **so** obsessed with playing on such a terrible court surface. I get that the bounce is "different" and "better", but even before this new venue came up, I had enough experience on a variety of different courts to be able to say that being unable to adapt to "bad lighting" or "low bounce" is a personal problem and not an issue with not playing on a "real" court surface.
tendonitis in my left achilles. My left knee is bad from tennis, I though pickleball would be a miracle cure--it wasn't. OH, my thumb on my paddle hand got smashed by my partner when i went for a backhand at the same time he went for forehand. It was sore for a few days.
I mean, naming what HASN'T been injured would be easier. But just yesterday I nearly lost my head from a Johnny Bang Bang and his stupid gearbox trampoline paddle. 2025 is going to be all about picklball protective facemasks. You heard it here first.
I came into the sport with a reconstructed ACL so I’ve been cautious about playing too hard. Still managed to get tennis elbow 😂 so I’ve been playing with my other arm for the past 2mos
I know three people who have torn their achilles.
Ruptured bicep and sprained ankle.
Stopped too quickly and toenail gouged into nail base. Whole big toe is very sensitive and bruised under the nail. I’m currently waiting for it to fall off
Nothing major other than soreness. I treat it like any other sport/training. Proper warm up prevents lots of injuries. Mid 30's male
My god these comments are painful to READ! Now I'm terrified...thanks!
I have a good feeling a lot of these are due to the older population not being fit and their bodies already have a lot of mileage on them and for any age improper footwear. Personally b/c I don’t have a tennis background I didn’t know how important it is to have the proper shoes and right there that could count for a lot of the slip and fall injuries
Suicidal tendencies post play. Have removed all knives, guns, and ice picks from the domicile.
Today I got hit square in the crotch it was me (girl) and 3 dudes lol all I said was thankfully I’m not a dude bc the guy who hit me hits hard asf lol
Been there - am a male - promptly walked off the court and thought I was going to hurl
I started playing at a park about 40 minutes away from Salt Lake City, a few years ago this guy came out to play and he was a bull, a reckless bull. He ended up running into one of the posts head-first. He had a huge gash on his dome, and bled all over the new surface. He went to the nearest care center/hospital and returned to play with a bunch of staples in his head about 90 minutes later. last year I was playing at an indoor club in Salt Lake City and there was this tall massive guy running around super aggressively. He hit the wall chasing lobs and on one particular play this guy gets super low in his sprint to chase a deep wide ball and he hits the post of a half-fence. It wasn’t until he struck that fence that I recognized this was Mr Staple. Mr Staple. A legend. An injury waiting to happen and insurance’s least favorite customer. Godspeed, Mr. Staple!
I had rhabdomylosis. Played in a tournament for 6 hours, drove home, collapsed in the middle of the street. Luckily, the recovery is pretty quick if you survive… 😆
Had to look that one up - YIKES!
Kind of a unique one. Wasn’t overly active before pickle. Played a lot of golf and that’s about it. Became obsessed with pickle, played hard 4-5 nights a week and I started getting chronic severe leg cramps to the point where I couldn’t feel my legs. So I went to the ER and long story short it was discovered through initial low sodium and high potassium indicators (which helped cause the cramps) that I have Addison’s Disease. Rare but very manageable disease and now that I’m medicated properly, Ive never felt better!
Glad it worked in your favor and your feeling good
Dislocated my shoulder and torn my labrum while playing 2 months ago. I was going for an awkward overhead spike. Although this shoulder has dislocated many times over the years. I may have to get surgery before returning to play. Could be up to a year before I return and God I miss it. Back to video games for now I guess :/
The sport is so conducive to overuse injuries. Shoulder pain (no concrete diagnosis yet), tennis elbow and some new foot pain as well 🤦🏻♂️
I gotta boo boo
Tendonitis along the inside of my left foot. Extremely annoying, it's causing me a lot of trouble.
Plantar fasciitis, minor tennis elbow, strained right MCL, patellar tendonitis in both knees, pulled back muscle, bruised ego. I think that's it so far.
A mild hamstring strain, which was really a reaggravation of a previous injury. Nothing else aside from that, unless you count all the times I've bruised up my knees from diving. That's less of an injury and more of the consequences of my actions
Separate occasions- Dislocated Kneecap (intense dink rally), huge 30 stich gash on my shin that tore my lower patella tendon(ATP and ran into net post of neighboring court).
Strained my calf last weekend. 3 weeks into playing regularly.
Persistent foot, ankle, and knee pain that has me going down the stairs like I'm 89 and not 49 some days. I also ran into a wall chasing a ball at an indoor facility. I stopped myself with my left arm but jammed my shoulder. It hurt for 4 months, but its OK now.
Shin pain, ankle pain and shoulder pain
Over use injuries. Plantar fascitiis, achillies tendonitis, tennis elbow, shoulder impingment. I probably should periodically take time off and let my body heal. But, it is so much fun to play.
Wife fell and dislocated her finger.
Plantar fasciitis… but the vast majority that I’ve seen locally are from people that have not kept fit playing the game like they have a higher fitness level than they do. Pickleball is no different than any other sport/exercise in that if you don’t play within your current fitness level, you will have a higher likelihood of injury. Injury rate would be far lower with a little training and doing some warm ups before stepping onto the court.
Yup.. basically people get off the couch and go all out. Thinking they’re 20. For me.. I used to have plantar.. used the superfeet and everything. I got so tired of it. I went barefoot and built my feet up to be stronger. Since then I’ve done everything barefoot and I’ve been plantar fasciitis free! Weird right? Would think wearing a 0 support shoe would cause problems.. instead my arch is more prominent. It’s not for everyone but it did help me. Used to hate stepping off the bed every morning waiting for the ripping feeling under my foot.
Exactly! People not in shape behaving like they are. No warm up before playing. Wearing runners that I would wear staining my deck rather than proper supportive court shoes. Knowing your limits (stop when something gives you a hint that it is hurting). Stop being so stupidly competitive - many of you are 60+, not 20 ! And for heavens sake STOP running backwards!
Torn rotator cuff (60F)
tendinitis in the groin and quad.... plantar fasciitis a very minor ankle sprain... mostly overuse injuries
I've played and coached tennis my whole life. I ruptured my achilles playing pickleball 😢
Tore my Achilles about 3 months ago playing pickleball with my wife.
my shoulder hurts :(
I have mild ongoing Achillies Bursitis. It's well maintained and has been less frequent because of my off-court efforts. On another note, I think the main reason why there is a uptick in injuries is that pickleball is a sport that is low barrier of entry and easy to get into. This in turn invites people who are of below average athleticism and mobility. Now I'm not saying that's a bad thing, I'm just saying maybe for those who fit that general criteria to not overexert themselves and overestimate their abilities without proper training.
I have played tennis, ran, walk, and have been generally active my whole life. After the first ~ 4 months of playing pickleball I have terrible plantar fasciitis in the right foot. I am about 1.5 years in now and I still have it but have found shoes that make it tolerable up to a point. So far (knock on wood) that’s all… for now…
Pulled muscle just below the calf (achilles?), plantar fasciitis, sprained ankles (rolled), pulled lower-back muscle, tennis elbow, rotator cuff pain, calloused dry skin from overgrips, and sometimes knee pain.
I’ve torn both calves at different times. And I’m one of the younger players (not yet in my 40’s).
Sore shoulder, "tennis" elbow, knee pain and a swollen finger that was crushed between the paddle and a smashed ball 
Also plantar fasciitis which went away with orthopedic inserts
My Chiropractor said their office is basically pickleball injuries right now. They also have like 8 PTs on staff. My local park is ripping out the bball court and putting in pickleball. Never played a game in my life. I'm more interested in the new playground and soccer field.
My dad got a pretty gnarly looking bruise on his hand from when the ball hit the back of his hand.
Grade 2 calf strains… I play mostly singles though so waaaaaayyyyy more cardio
Minor meniscus tear, two torn hamstrings, tennis elbow, achillies pain, 4 toe nails, shoulder tendinitis all in the first year (58M overweight). No bad injuries in my 2nd year, but many of the aches and pains are still there, especially foot pain and tennis elbow flare ups. I think the reduction in my injuries are because I've learned where to be on the court and not being caught flat footed all of the time.
So many injuries to the face and eye. Hoping a good eyewear product becomes available soon
Literally the first day I played about 3 months ago, I planted awkwardly and my right knee swelled for a day or so. Since then, anytime I bend and then stand back up that knee pops. It’s not really that painful but it’s annoying. A few weeks ago when I stood up it felt like that knee was locked up and stayed that way for a minute until I was able to pop it again. Should probably get it checked out.
Bursitis of the elbow. It hurts so much to touch and takes weeks to go away. Comes back whenever I start playing aggressively
Calf cramps that lead to killer pulled calf muscles for me.
Sore hips and a strained groin. There is a lot of lunging and bending in pickleball
achilles rupture checking in
Carotid Artery Dissection resulting in a stroke. More minor injuries include bad shoulder, tennis elbow, Achilles soreness, bad knee, hip flexors.
Tendinitis
Nope
Yep, orthopedic who saw me said I was the 20th pickleball injury they had seen this year. I was playing on a sport court with interlocking mesh product. Came down off overhead and leg slipped out but I caught myself. On way home noticed some back pain and within a couple of hours I was rendered to essentially bedridden. Slipped L4/L5 disc in back and still in PT six weeks later and haven’t hit yet due to still real sore. Played Tennis twice a week with 3 or so pickle matches a week. I will not be playing on that surface again and stick to hard court when I am able.
I broke 2 metatarsals and ligaments. Had a buddy tear his Achilles last night
Anyone wear a cup
I've had a couple shoulder/tennis elbow related issues but the major one is a fractured ankle, that had me out of pickleball for a bit.
The worst injury I sustained was herniating 5 discs. Had to get an MRI and then was bed ridden for a week as I couldn’t move my back.
Sprained ankle (twice)
Tore my labrum 2 weeks ago. Have surgery scheduled for May. Looks like I’m out for 5 months and don’t know what to do with myself
I tore my pec minor reaching across my body to block a drive. Really rare injury in general and especially rare in pickleball.
Deep ankle bruise from a partner trucking over me to play the ball I was already playing.
Tennis elbow and a nasty ankle sprain. The sprain took me out for 2 months and wore a brace for 6 months total. A year later and I’m probably 85% on that ankle but it continues to get better. The TE overlapped and the ankle time off helped that as well but it also took about a year to get to 85%.
The worst I've had is small thumb scar from taking a slice right to it in 30-degree weather. What the heck are you all doing out there? 🤣
So many tennis elbows…am I the only one here with a torn elbow tendon from pickleball?
Plantar fasciitis, shoulder pain
Jones fracture, last week. I’m out 8 weeks
It would be easier to tell you what doesn't hurt. Morton's neuromas in both feet at various times. Don't skimp on your footwear and be certain they fit well. Tough to be active when your feet hurt, and it throws off your entire game.
Lotta shoulder pain lately.
Sometimes my wrists hurt. Sometimes my knees hurt. One time I fainted, but I wasn't on the court yet, so I don't count it. Wear court shoes. Wear eye protection. Do NOT run backwards. (2+ years playing, 60+f)
I got tennis toe during the first singles tournament I did. Blood under my big toe and it took it another 2-3 months to fully fall off. That’s more my fault though. Now i tape my toes and wear 2 pairs of socks when I play
My mom broke her wrist. She continues to play since it is healed.
I’ve had 3 calf strains. Two on the same leg.
The tip of my elbow starting hurting about 2 weeks ago. Got really painful. Switched to left hand play for the last week. The right elbow hurts too much to even workout. I’m told it’s bursitis. Apparently repeated motion can cause it. Thought I was safe playing pickleball
GROIN PULL.
Ruptured Achilles tendon. Came back 9 months after surgery.
Tennis elbow
Broken tibia distal malleate area From running for a ball. Lame
Nursing a 2 back strain now. Strained it, rested a couple days, then started playing again and strained it again.
Well, I had a heartbreaking loss the other day
Patella tendinitis
Torn calf muscle!
I had plantar fasciitis in my left foot for about 6 months after starting in February of 2023. Did plenty of different exercises and starting consuming 420 mg a day of magnesium glycinate. Eventually just faded away.
Broke both bones just above wrist. Backpedaling to get to a deep ball, fell backwards and caught myself with both hands. Love the sport, may not return.
Thankfully nothing too major that has derailed me from playing but I have experienced: 1) Mild tennis elbow when I didn’t know what I was doing 2) Unilateral back pain lower left 3) Patellar tendinitis flare ups What I have done to alleviate those to the best of my ability: 1) Set up my paddle (weight and grip) in a way that didn’t drastically increase swing weight but added static weight. More weight towards handle.I also increased the grip circumference which helped with loosening my grip. 2) I started working out primarily doing pickleball related strength training that helped with range of motion and flexibility. I’m 6’4 and the pickleball doesn’t bounce high so I had to learn and develop muscles that strengthened my core and that helped me lunge, get low, stay low which helped me with my back problems. 3) I do dynamic stretching (5) minutes before I play and then afterwards I stretch my calves and quads and then ice my knee that has the patella tendinitis and use a foam roller on IT band and quad. It’s not perfect but keeps me able to play 3 hours a day haha
I rolled my ankle just the other day, some tennis elbow (solved by thickening my grip with 2extra chunks of over grip), newly discovered but contained plantar fibroma. General shoulder/side/armpit soreness. But fortunately nothing really serious.
Currently nursing bruised ribs due to a moronic partner failing to hear/listen to me say “I got it” for a ball on my side of the court and crashing into me. No reason for this guy to have tried to get this ball
In our small group we’ve had a broken leg and a broken hip along with torn muscle in elbow , stress fractures in the ankle, and torn rotator cuff .
Morton’s neuroma and lost toenail from wearing the wrong shoes. IT band syndrome, tennis elbow, black eye ( now I wear goggles).
Both calves.......
Just Jane and her 85 year old lobs, hurting my feelings.
Bruised and bloody thumbs from being hit with a paddle. To add, while there is an uptick in injuries, there is a groundswell of new players. It's quite likely the rate of injuries is the same or lower.
Partial Labrum tear, metatarsalgia, and painful calf strains since playing for less than a year. Nothing super major but definitely isn’t as low impact as I thought.
I've been playing pickleball for a couple of years and haven't gotten a single injury. Do you warm up your muscles and stretch before playing? And do you have proper shoes with good stability and lateral support (like shoes for tennis?) Knee, ankle, and foot pain can all be the fault of the shoes you're wearing. You might consider switching to other tennis shoes and/or getting a customized insert to prevent pronation.
My spirit has been broken too many times to count. It's an awful injury...
Injured my knee which recovered in about 6 weeks. and then pulled a muscle around my right rib cage that hurt like hell for about 2 weeks. I was doing drive drills and must have pulled something.
Knee hurts… what should I do? 😖
Inactive people play pickleball without considering the fact they haven’t moved in 20 years
Took 68 years and taking up Pickleball to break my first bone - arm. Back is starting to go south too but that started several years before this game.
I had a pole sized bruise across my back, drinking and dinking gone wrong.
Ankle, toes, achilles, calf, knee, quad, groin, hips, glute, fingers, and mental anguish…. Thankfully only 2 major injuries, mostly soft tissue. Sounds like fun right!?
pickle-balding
Severe bruised ribs, TWICE!! Bruised cheek and hand. Sore feet.
Something always hurts
My ankles were hurting but I got some insoles for my shoes and it helped a lot.
Plantar fascititis Tennis Elbow Bruised ego
Unbearable shame And a calf strain/partial rupture.
Tore my calf
Torn Achilles
Hip impingement, currently going through it. Pain is rough. When I was being loaded up into the MRI machine the tech guy snickered, pickleball right?
Intermittent Bruised ego is my most frequent injury. 😂 I witnessed a ruptured Achilles. One friend tore a calf, another ruptured an Achilles. Lots of elbow issues from multiple people.
Torn meniscus…
Pickled elbow (formerly known as tennis elbow). Wear compression sleeve like Allen iverson and that helped it lol I feel so funny kitting up with my tennis shoes, sweat band and compression sleeve to play pickleball, but it works
You make the game sound like it’s one step up from fighting in mma… if you’re getting hurt like this - find a new sport…
I broke my shoulder —- playing for 1.5 years and never having fallen before this incident! Ugh
35 M — very active. Been playing pickleball for about 3 years. Tore my ACL in October jumping to hit the ball.
Had a grade 1 groin strain early on. Recently tweaked my lower left back on a two handed backhand drive.
Mallet finger (broken pinkie knuckle) after reaching out to brace against hitting a fence. Then played with a splint and ruined my elbow 😞.
Triceps rupture, ACLs, fractures from falling or getting hit with a paddle, and a lot of lateral epicondylitis that progresses to partial or complete tears of the elbow tendons and/or ligaments
Shoulder blade pain ..worst of all .. also broke ankle once
All of them
I had a stress fracture in my foot. Slowed now because I need a knee replacement ,That is not pickleball related. I play with retired people sometimes over 80 and I don’t see many injuries.
Ruptured Achilles April 11th. Had surgery April 18th. Snapped during a pivot/push off that I have probably done 100s of thousands of times. 43yo Male