Player Analysis - Taking a Step

A little while ago I was doing some pickleball drilling with a friend of mine.  They wanted to work on their soft shots, especially dinking, given their goal to take their 4.0 assessment in a few months.  They also mentioned that they had been dealing with back pain and sciatica for quite a few months now, which caused some issues during pickleball.

With dinking, one big issue became quickly apparent.  When a return was made more than a foot out of their range, they would either sharply twist their torso to reach for the ball, or if this was insufficient, they would just watch the ball go by.   For the most part, their feet may as well have been in cement.

Why does it matter for injuries?

A player who relies on over-twisting through their back to get the ball is going to put more strain on the muscles of their back, their spine, and increase their risk of disc injury (bending/lifting/and twisting, especially combined and with momentum, tend to be the most injury provoking movements for discs).  Additionally, these players tend to put more strain on their knees, and the repetitive reaching with their arms can also contribute to shoulder injuries.

Why does it matter for gameplay?

A player who over-twists is more likely to put themselves out of position - think about it.  If you're someone's opponent, and a player twists all the way to the right, they've just given you a very juicy invitation to hit your return just to the left of them, and you'll likely take the point pretty easily by doing so.  Additionally, over-twisting instead of using proper footwork makes it harder to quickly and accurately get a paddle into proper position, resulting in more mis-hits and pop-ups.

Additionally, this particular player wasn't actually attempting to hit a shot that was just slightly far away from where he was standing.  I'm a big fan of people knowing their own limits, but in this case some slight tweaks in his anticipation and movement strategies would have allowed him to very safely keep the rally going with relative ease.

What to do about it?

First thing to think about is why the over-twisting is happening in the first place.  In an ideal situation, a player should be anticipating what their opponent is going to do, and then sidestep as needed to where they need to be.

There's a lot that goes into it, and over-twisting can be influenced by poor hip strength, players not wanting to do footwork due to poor balance, bad ingrained habits, avoidance of certain aches and pains, and more.  Notably, I also find that very tall people tend to be a tad 'lazy' and are a bit more likely to over-reach with their long arms instead of moving their feet.  These are all aspects of the games that I help people with.

Once the movement component of stepping properly is addressed, the other big component is anticipating the ball!  I have had many individuals comment that they're too slow or old to quickly get to the ball, when in fact they're playing a reactive game and instead of analyzing and anticipating what is going to happen before the ball is struck.  Any player of any age and athleticism is going to feel too slow if they aren't moving until the ball has already been struck!

Watch your opponents, their body language and paddle position.  Anticipate what they're going to do, begin to move yourself as needed before that ball gets hit, and you'll dominate the court like never before!  You can also feel good knowing that improving your game is reducing your likelihood of injury at the same time.

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As the owner of Serendipity Physical Therapy and Wellness, I’m an avid pickleball addict in Naples, Florida, with a goal of keeping pickleball players moving at their best and injury free. I work with players for anything ranging from reducing various pains, weakness, or tightness, to helping with injury prevention, proper conditioning, and good technique.

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 send me an email at Contact@SerendipityPTW.com. I would love to see how I can help get you moving at your best!