Play Smart. Move Ready. Keep Playing.

Pickleball frequently requires you to move sideways, forward, backward, and diagonally. A sudden change of direction can challenge your feet, ankles, knees, hips, balance, and ability to control your body.

What You Can Do

Practice controlled lateral movement, weight shifting, step-and-hold exercises, and lower-body strengthening away from the court. Start with movements you can control rather than trying to immediately match the speed of experienced players.

Falls are the leading injury mechanism identified in the latest pickleball-specific systematic review. A player may lose balance while lunging, reaching, changing direction, stepping backward, or trying to recover quickly.

What You Can Do

Integrate balance work into your regular training routine:

• Supported single-leg standing
• Controlled weight shifts
• Step-and-hold exercises
• Heel-to-toe walking

Pickleball is enjoyable, which can make it easy to increase your playing time quickly. But your enthusiasm can increase faster than your body's ability to adapt. Going from occasional play to multiple long sessions in a short period can place a very different demand on your muscles, tendons, joints, and overall recovery capacity.

What You Can Do

Gradually increase your playing frequency, duration, and intensity—especially after a long break. If you change one part of your routine, consider keeping the other variables relatively stable while your body adapts.

Going directly from sitting in a car or at home to rapid court movement gives your body little time to transition into activity.

What You Can Do

Give yourself approximately 5–10 minutes to gradually increase your movement before your first game. Start easy and progressively introduce the movements you'll use on the court.

Pickleball involves repeated pushing, stopping, bending, stepping, reaching, and recovering. Your body doesn't need to be exceptionally strong—but it benefits from having an adequate physical foundation for those demands.

What You Can Do

Complement pickleball with regular strength training. Useful movements include:

• Sit-to-stands
• Step-ups
• Calf raises
• Supported hip hinges
• Resistance-band rows
• Controlled lateral steps

For adults 65+, the CDC recommends muscle-strengthening activity on at least 2 days each week as part of a broader physical activity routine.

Balance is more than standing on one foot. During pickleball, you need to control your body while your weight shifts, your feet reposition, and your upper body reaches toward the ball.

What You Can Do

Practice balance when you're not playing. Start with simple supported exercises and gradually make them more challenging as your control improves.

Pickleball includes substantial side-to-side movement. Footwear designed primarily for straight-line running may not provide the same type of support or stability you want for court movement. USA Pickleball recommends comfortable court shoes and specifically notes the importance of footwear suited to pickleball's lateral movement.

What You Can Do

Choose court shoes that fit comfortably, provide appropriate traction, match your indoor/outdoor playing surface, are in good condition, and allow your toes room without foot sliding.

Good physical preparation cannot compensate for a wet surface, debris, equipment left near the court, or an unexpected collision.

What You Can Do

Before playing: check the court surface for moisture/debris, keep loose equipment out of the playing area, know where partner and opponents are, be aware of neighboring courts, and avoid moving backward without knowing what's behind you.

Your movement can change when you're tired. Steps may become less precise. Reaction time may feel slower. You may reach farther instead of repositioning your feet. That's when a movement that normally feels easy can become harder to control.

What You Can Do

Pay attention to how you're moving, not just how much longer you can keep playing. Taking a break is part of smart training—not a sign that you're giving up.

There is a difference between normal effort and a symptom that is getting worse. Trying to play through significant pain, swelling, instability, dizziness, or another concerning symptom isn't a good strategy.

What You Can Do

Stop and assess what's happening. If symptoms persist, worsen, or interfere with normal activities, seek appropriate professional guidance before returning to play.