When preparing to play your first game of pickleball of the day, stretching can be very effective at reducing discomfort and tightness, in addition to preparing your body for the games ahead.
So, what exactly should you focus on stretching?
There really aren’t any wrong answers here, but since you’ll be using them quite a bit during a pickleball game, the low back, mid-back, hips, shoulders, and knees are great key areas to focus on. If you think about it, you use pretty much every joint in your body to some extent when you play a game, but the above areas are ones that tend to be tight and problematic for many players. If you have pain in any particular area of your body, you should definitely make sure that you do a little bit of loosening up before you hit the courts (this should not be painful!!). For example, someone with symptoms of tennis elbow would do well to stretch their forearm out prior to a game.
I have my own favorite stretches for pickleball players, but in general your focus should be on stretching into motions that you need to use during a game. As an example, many individuals have tightness in their shoulder that limits a full forehand motion - for this reason, stretching into that position before a game is a fantastic idea for many players.
Now, how long should you stretch for? Current recommendations advise that muscle stretches should be held for 15-30 seconds at a time. Research suggests that older individuals may benefit more from holding stretches for the longer end of this recommendation.
When stretching, it’s fine for players to feel some mild discomfort during the stretch. However, players shouldn’t stretch so hard that they produce pain. Doing so can actually be counterintuitive, and you also risk injuring yourself! When you stretch so much that pain is created, muscles around that area can tense as a protective response, which can actually generate more tightness.
How many times should you stretch?
At the moment, evidence suggests that stretching should be done for between 2-4 times. Even though it isn’t harmful to stretch for more than 4 repetitions, research has not found any additional benefit to stretching beyond that number of times.
What else is there to consider?
Stretching for generalized purposes is a good thing, but if you find that there’s one specific area that is frequently tight or has pain, it’s worth looking into more extensively. Muscles and joints don’t just become tight for no reason, so it’s worth figuring out what exactly is going on.
As an example, a player may have tightness in their hamstring that never improves or is continually tighter than they are in their other leg. For pickleball players, it’s common that this tightness is present because players have weakness in their glutes (butt muscles). This weakness causes players to overuse their hamstrings when moving and positioning on the courts.
In an example such as this, the player’s hamstring tightness will always be a persisting problem until they correct the underlying issue of weakness and overuse. Address this and train the player on how to properly get the correct musculature to kick on, and the issue of excessive hamstring tightness will typically improve for the long term. Additionally, your quality of pickleball play will also usually get quite a bit better!
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Need more help structuring a proper pickleball stretching program? Or do you need help figuring out why one area of your body is always tight? As a doctor of physical therapy and owner of Serendipity Physical Therapy and Wellness, I’m happy to work with you to help with any of these kinds of needs. (I do house calls around the general Naples area!)
I help pickleball players with a wide variety of issues, from injury rehab to improving flexibility and reducing the likelihood of getting hurt on the courts.
If you’re new, you can check out more of my advice and content here: https://www.serendipityptw.com/blog.
If there is anything I can help you with, or you have questions, please give me a call at (239) 232-8155, or send me an email at Contact@SerendipityPTW.com. I would love to see how I can help get you moving at your best!
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