Pickleball looks friendly from the sidelines.
The court is smaller than a tennis court. The paddle is light. The rallies can feel social and relaxed.
Then someone hits a drop shot.
You sprint forward, plant one foot, reach outside your normal range, and try to stop before running into the net. A few seconds later, you are moving backward for a lob or changing direction to cover the sideline.
Pickleball is fun, but it still asks the body to accelerate, decelerate, lunge, rotate, balance, and react quickly.
As more people take up the sport, healthcare providers are also seeing more pickleball-related injuries.
A national study of pickleball injuries treated in United States emergency departments estimated that annual cases increased from approximately 1,313 in 2014 to 24,461 in 2023. Most injuries involved adults between 60 and 79 years old, and falls were more common among older players.
Those numbers need context.
Emergency-department data captures injuries serious enough for someone to seek emergency care. It does not include every minor strain treated at home or in a clinic. It also cannot tell us an individual player’s risk because participation in pickleball increased dramatically during the same period.
The message is not that pickleball is “too dangerous.”
The message is that the body should be prepared for the sport.
A 2026 systematic review found that lower-body sprains, strains, and fractures were commonly reported. Falls were the leading injury mechanism, followed by running or lunging forward and rolling the foot or ankle. Achilles tendon ruptures were also represented in the research. The review recommended dynamic warm-ups, balance and body-awareness training, appropriate footwear, and routine inspection of the court surface.
Even professional players are not immune. A 2026 review of elite competitors found that lower-extremity injuries were the most common, particularly ankle sprains and knee injuries, with additional cases involving the Achilles tendon and ACL.
Most recreational injuries do not have one single cause.
They may develop from a combination of factors:
One of the most common situations is the “weekend spike.”
Someone may sit for much of the workweek and then play for three hours on Saturday. The heart may be willing, but the muscles and tendons have not been exposed to similar demands during the rest of the week.
Your body responds better when the demands of the game are supported by regular movement and strength work between matches.
A few casual paddle swings are better than nothing, but they do not prepare the entire body for the first fast rally.
A useful warm-up should gradually raise your body temperature and introduce the movements you will use on the court.
Try beginning with:
The warm-up should feel progressive. You should not go directly from standing still to chasing a difficult ball at full speed.
Anyone returning from an injury or managing a medical condition should have the routine adjusted to their current ability.
Playing pickleball may improve your pickleball skills, but playing alone does not always build every physical quality needed to reduce injury risk.
A well-rounded program may include:
Calf strength: Important for pushing off, changing direction, and absorbing force.
Quadriceps and hip strength: Helpful for lunging, squatting, stopping, and recovering from lower positions.
Single-leg balance: Useful when reaching, stepping outside your base of support, or reacting to an unpredictable shot.
Deceleration control: The ability to slow down safely can be just as important as the ability to move quickly.
Shoulder and upper-back strength: Helps the arm handle repeated serving, reaching, and swinging.
Forearm endurance: May support the wrist and elbow through repeated paddle use.
The exercises should eventually reflect the player’s actual needs. Someone competing several times per week will require a different level of preparation than someone playing one casual game on Sunday morning.
Enthusiasm can outrun conditioning.
A new player may feel fine during the first hour, agree to play several more games, and wake up the next morning with significant heel, knee, back, shoulder, or elbow pain.
Instead of judging readiness only by how you feel during a match, pay attention to how your body responds later that day and the following morning.
When returning after a break:
There is no perfect progression rule that fits every person. Your age, previous injuries, current strength, training history, and overall health all matter.
Running shoes are designed primarily for forward movement. Pickleball involves frequent lateral movement, stopping, and directional changes.
A court shoe with appropriate lateral support and reliable traction may be a better match for the sport. Shoes should also be replaced when the tread or support becomes noticeably worn.
Before playing, look for:
A simple court check takes less than a minute and may prevent a fall.
In Fort Lauderdale, heat and humidity can affect performance before a player realizes it.
Fatigue may change footwork, reaction time, decision-making, and balance. The CDC recommends doing outdoor activities during cooler parts of the day when possible, taking breaks, staying hydrated, and watching for symptoms such as muscle cramps, unusually heavy sweating, dizziness, headache, weakness, nausea, or shortness of breath.
Do not treat dizziness or unusual weakness as something to “play through.” Stop, move to a cooler environment, and seek appropriate medical assistance when symptoms are severe, worsening, or not resolving.
You do not need to wait for a major injury before seeing a physical therapist.
An evaluation may be useful when:
A physical therapist can assess strength, mobility, balance, movement control, and tolerance for the specific demands of pickleball. Rehabilitation can then progress from controlled exercise to court-related movement instead of making the first match your first real test.
inMotionRx works with active adults experiencing sports injuries, shoulder pain, ACL injuries, foot and ankle pain, hip and knee conditions, back pain, and tendon-related concerns. Its Fort Lauderdale clinic is designed around helping people build the strength and confidence needed to return to the activities they value.
You do not have to stop playing simply because an injury is possible.
Prepare for the sport, listen to early warning signs, and give your body the same attention you give your game.
Want to stay on the court or return after an injury?
Schedule a pickleball-focused movement evaluation with inMotionRx in Fort Lauderdale.
