Pickleball is Booming and So Are the Injuries. What to Do to Protect Yourself and Enjoy the Game

Wherever you go these days — community centers, parks, hotel recreation areas — there's a pickleball game going on. And honestly, I’ve played it, so I get it. The sport is social, it's fun, and it seems a lot more manageable than tennis. What's not to love?

Well, here's what you need to know: pickleball is sending people to emergency rooms at a rate that should make all of us pay attention. This isn't to scare you off the court…quite the opposite. If you know what's going wrong out there, you can make sure it doesn't happen to you.

First of All, the Injury Numbers Are Eye-Opening

Between 2020 and 2022 alone, pickleball injuries rose 91% and hospital admissions shot up 257%, according to data from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System. Approximately 90% of those injuries affect people aged 50 and older. And bone fractures related to pickleball have increased 200% over the past 2 years, with 92% happening during falls.

A large 2025 nationwide study of nearly 1,800 players found that 68.5% experienced at least one injury over a 12-month period. That's almost 7 out of 10 players.

So what's getting hurt? Knees are the #1 site, followed by ankles (sprains are the single most reported injury), shoulders, back, elbows, wrists, including what's being called “pickleball elbow”. Eye injuries have also surged dramatically as the ball can travel at surprising speeds.

Why Is This Happening?

Pickleball has a bit of a reputation problem. From the outside it looks gentle…it’s a smaller court, a lighter paddle, and you’re using a wiffle ball. What could go wrong. Well, ask your calves the morning after a long session, and they'll tell you a different story.

Every game involves explosive lateral cuts, sudden stops, deep lunges, repeated paddle swings, and rapid direction changes. These aren't gentle movements, and they add up — especially for players who jump in without proper preparation.

The research points to several clear, avoidable culprits: skipping the warm-up, wearing the wrong shoes, jumping in too fast without conditioning the body, playing through early warning signs, and overuse (playing three or more times per week was linked to a 45% higher injury rate). One study also found that players who rated injury prevention as having low importance were more than twice as likely to get hurt. Oops!

Prevention: What Actually Works

Key Prevention Steps You Can Take:

•      Warm up dynamically for 10–15 minutes before play. You can do walking lunges, arm circles, leg swings, light jogging. Not static "hold and stretch". Your muscles need movement to get ready for movement.

•      Wear court shoes, not running shoes. Running shoes lack the lateral support pickleball demands and are a reliable path to ankle sprains.

•      Strength train 2–3 times per week off the court. Target your glutes, core, shoulders, and ankles. Muscles protect joints by absorbing shock.

•      Stay hydrated throughout the day, not just right before you play. Dehydration slows reaction time and increases injury risk.

•      Ease into the sport. Your body needs time to adapt to new movement patterns So, don't go from zero to five sessions a week overnight.

•      Listen to your body. If something hurts, stop. Two days off is always a better outcome than months of recovery.

A Recovery Routine That Only Takes 7-Minutes

Here's something that I thought is worth sharing. There’s a website called ExercisesForInjuries.com that just published a piece by Rick Kasilj that makes a simple but important point: the window right after you play is when recovery matters most, and it's ignored because most players grab their bag and head home.

When muscles cool down in a contracted, tight state without any recovery routine, by morning that tightness has had hours to set in. That's the concrete-calf feeling. That's the stiff-hip shuffle that makes the walk to the coffee maker feel like a negotiation.

Their recommendation? A 7-minute foam rolling routine targeting the four areas pickleball stresses most. It needs to be done within 20–30 minutes of finishing your last game, while your muscles are still warm. It focuses on the calves, glutes, hips, and IT band/outer thigh.

Check out his website for the 7-minute program.

Players who do it consistently report less soreness the next morning, faster recovery between sessions, and noticeably better movement in their first game of the day.

And if you do get hurt? For minor sprains and strains, the RICE method still holds up: Rest, Ice (20 minutes every 2–3 hours), Compression, and Elevation. For anything that doesn't improve in 48–72 hours, or for more serious stuff like fractures, severe shoulder injuries, Achilles problems, or any eye injury, please see a professional. Don't tough it out.

The Bottom Line

Pickleball is genuinely good for you. The cardiovascular benefit, the social connection, the fun, all of it has real health value. But the sport makes real demands on your body, and the data is now clear that it's sending a significant number of people (mostly older folks) to the ER for largely preventable reasons.

So…to avoid the ouches and oh my god words: Warm up before you play. Wear the right shoes. Build your strength off the court. And take seven minutes after your session to give your muscles what they need. The goal isn't to survive today's game. The goal is to play today, next week, next year, and for a long time after that.