3 days ago
Pickleball's popularity is rising rapidly in Montreal. So are the injuries
The first pickleball game Bernadette Reichert ever played was going great until the last three minutes.
She remembers the date — Feb. 13 of this year — because it was the day before Valentine's Day. Friends invited her to try the sport seemingly everyone had been talking about for years.
Reichert, an active 66-year-old, fell in love with it immediately. Easy to learn, fast-moving, social: 'I really, really, really enjoyed it,' she said. She played for almost 90 minutes at the municipal courts in Kirkland.
Then her opponent lobbed a ball wide, and instead of letting it go, she reached too far and fell sideways.
At first she thought it was nothing, even though fellow players told her: 'You don't look so good.' Gripping the steering wheel as she drove to a hair appointment after the game, she noticed a sharp pain in her wrist.
When she arrived, her hairdresser said: 'You don't look so good.'
Reichert sat down and fainted.
She had broken two bones in her wrist. Her short-lived pickleball career had been put on hold.
Reichert is by no means alone. Pickleball is widely touted as North America's fastest-growing sport. Pickleball Canada estimates the number of Canadians playing the fast-paced game rose from 1 million people in 2022 to 1.5 million as of this year. With the rapid rise in participants has come a surge in pickleball-related injuries.
One U.S. study published in 2024 found the number of reported fractures had increased by 200 per cent over the last 20 years. More than 85 per cent of those who recorded injuries were over 60 years of age. The majority of breaks were in bones in the arm and wrist, and were due to falls.
The actual number of overall injuries is likely much higher, as the study didn't look at soft-tissue injuries like ankle sprains and Achilles tendon tears that are more common to the sport.
Sometimes viewed as a low-impact activity played by a generation who grew up with The Beatles on the radio and Lester B. Pearson as prime minister, the sport that resembles a cross between tennis and Ping-Pong can be deceptively perilous.
'It's a bit of a perfect storm phenomenon in that it's extremely popular,' said Dr. Paul Martineau, an orthopaedic surgeon with the McGill University Health Centre specializing in sports injuries. 'And it's extremely popular in an age group that has a lot of time to play pickleball, and in an age group that's predisposed to certain injuries.'
One Montrealer who broke a wrist while playing in Ontario cottage country this summer was told by the Parry Sound ER doctor she was his fourth pickleball injury in two days: 'One torn Achilles, one knee and two wrists,' he said.
As we age, muscles get weaker, bones may thin a bit, and after 40, our tendons are more subject to tearing, Martineau said. Pickleball requires a lot of rapid lateral movement and back and forth lunging, putting concerted, repeated strain on joints and muscles in the lower body.
At the same time, the barrier to entry in pickleball is remarkably fast as compared to a sport like tennis, which can take years to learn.
'You can get on a pickleball court and have fun within about 20 minutes and actually rally,' Martineau said. But people underestimate the sport's physicality and its ability to spark competitiveness that can lead to overextending. Particularly among a sector of the population that is retired, healthier than previous generations and wants to maintain an active lifestyle for longer.
'People are doing things their grandparents didn't do,' Martineau said. 'And then paying the price for that.'
Injuries are not solely the domain of rookies. Montrealer Christine Latremoille, 69, who used to play racquetball at the national level and has played competitive pickleball for years, recently fell over sideways and landed on the upright rim of her paddle.
'I pretty much impaled myself,' she said. 'I'm not sure if I cracked a rib or just bruised it, but that was an unusual one.' She was out for two months.
Early in her pickleball career she played a match without stretching first and tore the soleus muscle in her calf. That injury also cost her two months.
'A lot of the people that we play with are ex-athletes from other sports, so we have this assumption in our aging brains that we're still the 20-year-old athlete we once were,' she said. 'And we may not take the right preparations for stretching and so on.'
The slightly addictive nature of the sport may also play a role, notes Barry Samberg, the owner of Club PKL in Pointe-St-Charles. With mostly experienced players coming to his centre, they don't see many injuries, he said. But they do see overuse, with people playing as long as four hours at a stretch. When players are tired, they're more prone to making sloppy moves that can lead to injury. Backs often bear the brunt of overstraining.
Another no-no is improper footwear.
'I do see injuries from players that come in and they're wearing running shoes as opposed to court shoes,' Samberg said. 'Running shoes are only designed to go straight, not horizontal, so when they have to make a sideways movement, that's where they can potentially roll an ankle.'
Merely standing up for two hours straight during a typical match fatigues the body, noted Peter Levidis, an athletic therapist who has run the Sport Specialists clinic in Dorval with his wife Melanie Scrase for nearly 25 years.
'There's a lot more chance that you'll try that extra reach when you're tired where you can pull a muscle,' he said. 'Because the movement is brisk and there's a deceleration, acceleration, all it takes is a false little movement and you can sprain an ankle.'
At his clinic, sprained or torn Achilles tendons and ankles, tendon issues and lower body injuries are the most commonly seen pickleball ailments. Elbow and wrist issues also come up.
Despite the uptick in injuries, however, experts stress the health benefits of the low-cost sport that is relatively easy for older people to take up far outweigh the slight chance of injury.
Maintaining activity levels helps older people preserve their independence, and 'bones do like impact — they don't get as weak if you keep using them,' Martineau said. 'So there are benefits to doing things like that, but it comes with a little bit of a risk.'
Latremoille noted there's a lot of socializing with pickleball, including after the game, and in going on trips to tournaments together.
'As you get older, that's extremely important for mental health, so that's another spinoff dividend, if you will.'
Tips for staying injury-free on the court
LESSONS
Although it may be easy to learn, wannabe pickleball players would benefit greatly from taking a lesson or two first, just as one would if considering taking up tennis or golf, said Dr. Paul Martineau. Learning the basics of proper technique can help to avert improper movements that lead to a fall or a sprain.
At the same time, remember it's a sport that brings out one's competitive nature, so try to play within your level and don't overdo it.
'I would advise people to try and play within themselves, because the level of competition seems very high,' Martineau said. 'And then people get too excited and overextend themselves.'
CONDITIONING
As with any physical activity, a brief warmup helps to loosen muscles and make joints and tendons more limber, lessening chances of an injury during play, Martineau notes. 'Being well warmed up before you get on the court would be the main thing,' he said.
Having a basic level of fitness before lunging about in many different directions would also help. Some centres, like Club PKL in Pointe-St-Charles, offer fitness classes geared toward strengthening and stretching the muscles used in pickleball. It can also help with reaction time. Yoga is also good for increasing flexibility.
'You can have strong legs, but if you can't react properly and you can't move your leg quickly to the side or turn your trunk to avoid a ball or hit a ball, that's when we can pull muscles,' athletic therapist Peter Levidis said.
A common refrain among pickleball victims is that they were wearing running shoes before tragedy struck. The rapid side-to-side movements of the sport require a court shoe that's low to the ground to lessen the chance of rolling an ankle, and has lateral support and good traction. Court shoes are good for indoors. For outdoors, tennis shoes work, as do shoes specifically designed for pickleball.
It's also a good idea to find a paddle that is a comfortable size and weight.
