By Pickleball Terry
Back in August I wrote about the potluck where the guy across from me said we have to work twice as hard at staying in shape now. Boy, was he right. But work at what, exactly?
Pickleball is a workout. We all know that. Give me a few hours of open play and my Fitbit starts buzzing. The game asks a lot of our legs, our balance and our reactions, and that’s one more reason I love it.
So, here’s the problem. Pickleball uses that quick first step, that balance and whatever we have left from the last time we played. It doesn’t build much of that. That part we have to do ourselves, off the court.
HOW WE GET HURT
Somebody counted ten years of emergency room visits for pickleball injuries, and more than 85% of the injured players were 60 or older. No surprise there. But look at how we get hurt, here in Sarasota like everywhere else. Nearly 2 out of 3 of those visits came from slips, trips, falls and dives. The younger crowd pulls something lunging for the ball. We’re the ones more likely to break something on the way down. In the most recent count, all ages in, fractures made up about a third of the diagnoses.
Yikes! Nobody in those numbers got hurt just for being 65. The chart says slip, trip, fall or dive, and the way I read that, a foot got there a half step late or a leg couldn’t stop, and down they went. A fall can change your life in seconds. I said that back in August. But catching yourself is a skill, and skills can be drilled.
BUILD THE QUICK KIND OF STRENGTH
Strength and quick strength are two different things, and the quick kind goes faster. A study of 100 healthy people between 65 and 89 found that plain strength ran about 1 to 2% lower for every year of age across that range. Leg power, the quick kind, ran closer to 3.5% lower a year, and the gap between the two was clear in the men, less so in the women.
On the court, that quick strength is the first step up to the kitchen and the hard stop once you get there. It’s also the turn and go when a lob sails over your head.
So, what’s the plan? The exercises in my leg strength post (squats, lunges, step-ups, resistance bands) are still the right ones. The change I’d suggest, once the regular version feels easy, is a little speed on the way up. Stand up from the squat like the ball is already on its way, as fast as you can control. Then come back down slowly. Two days a week, 20 minutes, on days you don’t play. A big review of strength training in older people found that most programs ran two to three times a week and had people working hard. That made a big difference in strength and a solid one in getting out of a chair.
If you’re new to strength training, get some instruction first. That can be a trainer at the Y, a physical therapist or a coaching app such as huuman that plans your strength days around your court days. Any of the three will keep you from guessing at how much and how often.
PRACTICE THE STEP THAT CATCHES YOU
Balance needs practice just like your pickleball serve does. Standing on one foot by the kitchen sink at home is a start. What saves you on the court is one fast step that catches you.
Studies have looked at exactly that. Seven of them put people 60 and up through stepping practice. Sometimes on cue, sometimes to catch themselves after a nudge. Those people cut their falls roughly in half. In the studies that measured it, reaction time and balance got better. Strength didn’t budge, so stepping is its own skill. Another review, a huge one with more than 23,000 people, found that balance and functional exercise cut falls by about a quarter. Balance plus strength together probably cuts them by about a third.
What catches you out there? One good step. So here’s a simple court drill, no ball required. Start at the kitchen line with a partner right in front of you. They call out left, right or back (for back, turn and step, never run backwards). You take one fast step that way and get back to your ready position. Ten calls each, then switch. At home, stand next to the kitchen counter, let yourself tip forward just a little, on purpose, and catch yourself with one step. Then do the same to each side a few times. Keep a hand close to the counter every time. And if you’ve had a fall this year, have a physical therapist watch you do this one first. Do it for two minutes while you warm up, before you start dinking.
RESPECT THE DAY AFTER
In June I wrote that recovery takes longer as we get older. Turns out it’s more complicated than that. One look at 36 studies compared older and younger people after the same hard exercise. Muscle function came back no slower in the older group at 24 and 72 hours. The younger group was actually more sore.
So, our muscles come back no slower than the 30-year-olds’ on the next court. The difference is what we do in between. Play a game then sit out two. Don’t play every day. Give yourself one real rest day a week, and walking counts. Walking was number one on my list back in August anyway.
And please get your sleep. One study followed nearly 3,000 women, all 70 or older and most of them in their 80s, for a year. Compare the ones getting 7 to 8 hours with the ones sleeping 5 hours or less a night. The short sleepers had about one and a half times the odds of falling twice or more that year. Perhaps sleep is balance training too. If you want more on recovery and sleep, the sleep and recovery overview on the huuman blog has plenty.
WHAT I’D ADD TO YOUR WEEK
Play 3 days a week and sit out a game now and then.
Do your 2 strength days, 20 minutes each, up fast and down slow, not on court days.
Do 2 minutes of step-and-catch before you dink.
Take one full rest day. Walking is allowed.
Sleep 7 to 8 hours, more after a tournament.
And if anything creaks for more than a few days, see a medical professional instead of playing through it. I know, I know. (I once played on a broken toe. Do as I say…not as I did.)
Ray is 93 and still playing. None of us is promised that. But two short strength days, two minutes of stepping and a good night’s sleep are things we can start this week, and I’d say that’s not much to ask for many more mornings out on the court.
Thanks for reading,
Pickleball Terry
Dinkpickleball@gmail.com
