Popularity and perils of pickleball

The popularity of America’s fastest growing sport is leading to a rise in injuries, especially among players over age 60

by CHRIS BURRITT

NW GUILFORD/GREENSBORO – From head to foot, the number of pickleball injuries is rising as the popularity of the sport skyrockets.

Players 60 years and older account for 86% of pickleball injuries, according to a health care industry report last month by UBS, an investment bank and financial services firm. Injuries to wrists and lower legs are most common, followed by injuries to the head, lower trunk, knees and ankles.

This year alone, medical costs related to America’s fastest growing sport could range from $250 million to $500 million, according to UBS. The firm’s research bears out injuries treated by physical therapists and trainers across northwest Guilford County and Greensboro.

“It’s mostly overuse injuries,” said Nate Whicker, a physical therapist assistant at Oak Ridge Physical Therapy. Like other professionals, he’s cared for individuals whose enthusiasm for pickleball trailed their level of fitness preparedness to play the sport.

While perhaps “not as intense as tennis, pickleball is still a very dynamic sport with a lot of fast changes in direction and a lot of speed changes,” Whicker said.