Most Common Mistake - Not Stretching

People often ask us, what’s the most common mistake you see people making in pickleball?

There’s a plethora of obvious candidate answers:

• Not bending your knees

• Not keeping your eye on the ball

• Too big a swing on volleys

• Grip too tight

But MY answer isn’t among the obvious one:

Not stretching. BOTH before and after play.

Everyone knows it’s the conventional wisdom, but how often do you see people stretching before they play? After they play? Or even in the middle of a session during any down time?

The answer to that, for me, is “almost never!”

But whereas people understand it’s a good idea, do they understand why?

Cold un-stretched muscles and tendons tend to tear instead of give. And the more tears you accumulate, the less support is in place and thus… the more LIKELY it is to suffer additional tearing.

What I do before each session is take the hottest shower I can stand, and then… I stretch for about 15 minutes under the hot water. This is costly in energy bills, but injury is even costlier.

During the session I’m trying to get a little stretching in here and there between games to keep things loose.

Then… guess what? When I’m done, I do a little bit of stretching at the venue but ASAP I get into another hot shower (or jacuzzi) and do it all over again.

I have also found the following additional methods beneficial:

• Massage

• Using a sports massager/vibrator

• Voltarin (basically a topical form of anti-inflammatory (NSAID)

• Heating pads and electric blankets

• Recovery days

• Drilling instead of playing (drilling allows you to pick drills that avoid problem areas)

I’m 68 years old and despite my age, I generally am on the courts 2-54hours a day, almost evrery day. Not suggesting that’s a good idea, only merely pointing out that because of my regimen I’m at least “capable” of doing that in a sustained way.

The point is… you need to decide what is best for you. But I can almost guarantee that just jumping on/off the courts without stretching ain’t what’s best for you. :-)

• Dave Blickstein - IPTPA Certified Pickleball Coach