Get Rid of Knee Pain with Pickleball
Pickleball has had a tremendously positive effect on millions of people as it has increased in popularity over the last decade. It has also resulted in millions of injuries. I for one believe the result is ultimately a net positive, but boy would it be nice if we could experience more of the positives without the negatives!
Why Does Pickleball Hurt My Knees?
We have spoken a lot about various injuries with pickleball through our blogs. An area that we haven’t touched on yet is knee pain with pickleball. Just to name a few of the most common diagnoses leading to knee pain, it can be caused by tendonitis, meniscus tears, knee cap tracking issues, osteoarthritis and more.
There are actually quite a number of reasons why pickleball seems to generate so many knee injuries. One challenge with pickleball (and this runs true for all areas of the body) is that it requires vigilance. Oftentimes a player may be stationary for the majority of a volley, then is required to make one sudden, fast and explosive cut or pivot.
In conjunction with this, pickleball court surfaces are not only very hard, but also very “grippy.” This can lead to twisting injuries as the knee rotates over a perfectly planted foot. This is a large driving force of meniscus tears and even strains of the musculature surrounding the joint.
Another challenge is the repetitive nature of the game. Although a lot of the time the activity is low impact (such as standing stationary in the kitchen fielding dinks), it is highly repetitive in nature. This leads to fatigue and overuse to certain muscles and areas of the joint.
Lastly, pickleball has been a sponge for people who have not been particularly active before finding this game. And while it’s truly wonderful that pickleball allows for a lot of these people to suddenly find a sport that gives them joyful exercise and camaraderie, the flip side is that many of their bodies are not quite ready for it. The good news is- this can be fixed! It just takes some exercise.
Techniques with Pickleball to Reduce Knee Pain: Weighting Properly
This is a broad topic, as with any pains, they take time and a lot of specific treatment to truly heal and. BUT, I will give you a couple key things you can do to take some of that stress off of your knees.
The first is, try to balance your weight a little more through the posterior chain. What does that mean? We’ve all been told athletically to keep the weight on the balls of our feet, but this can be taken too far. Too often I see people leaning forward excessively over their toes, which places a lot of stress through the knee caps, the anterior portions of the joint, and the quad muscles. Try to sit “back” a little bit more but dropping your butt down and picking your chest up taller. You want to feel a little bit like you are “sitting.” This will balance the joint stress a little bit more evenly while also taking some workload off the achilles tendon and quads. You will also be able to move more quickly if your weight is more balanced.
Techniques with Pickleball to Reduce Knee Pain: Move Your Feet
Secondly, keep your feet moving. You want to play with “light feet.” Especially as we get tired, we often don’t want to move our feet. We become very planted and “stuck” in one spot, relying on our trunk and arm reach to get to the ball. Then, when we have absolutely no choice but to make a quick cut, we push off and twist, leading to injury. Keep your feet light and shuffle them around as you move to keep the ball in front of you. You don’t want to plant and reach; you want to shuffle and stay moving! This will not only make you less prone to injury, but it will help you play better!
Techniques with Pickleball to Reduce Knee Pain: Getting to Those Pesky Lobs
Lastly, if you get lobbed over your head, try not to make a huge pivot/twist on a planted foot or run backwards, as this can strain your lower back. If the ball is lobbed over you on your right side, start by dropping your right foot back so that you can then make an easy turn and run naturally back towards the ball. The goal is to read where the ball will land, then make a question mark shape as you circle around the back of that spot, and then finally hit the ball facing the net. Again: Drop the foot back that is closer to the ball, turn your body towards the back of the court, run around the back of the ball in a question mark shape, then try to be facing the net again as you hit from behind the ball. Shout out to Dawn Brown for this tip, an absolutely stellar person and pickleball coach in Delaware, Ohio for all levels!
Exercises to Relieve Knee Pain with Pickleball
Here are four exercises, with each one focusing on a different muscle group:
- Bridges– Bridges are used to develop the gluteus maximus. Glut max, the biggest “butt” muscle, is responsible in large for sharing with the quads the load of doing a squat. However, most of us tend to rely much too heavily on the quads, resulting in a variety of issues. This goes back a bit to the leaning too far forward into our toes. Bridges will help you become stronger in the gluts to balance that load. If traditional bridges are too easy, try doing a single leg bridge. Be sure to squeeze your butt as you do this exercise!
- Monster Walks– Monster walks are a great way to strengthen the lateral muscles of the hip in order to take stress off the knee caps.
- Quad Sets– Quad sets are a super simple yet effective way to get some pain free quad activation. I know I’ve talked a lot here about unloading the quads, but you do still want them to be strong! Typically this exercise is a great way to get some pain free movement as well.
- Heel raises– When you push off or cut quickly, the calves should be involved to create power and speed. However, these muscles often become extremely weak as we age, thus placing much more stress on the muscles around your knee joint and the joint itself. If double leg heel raises are too easy, do them on a single leg.
How We Treat Knee Pain at Trem Therapy Solutions
Truly the key to successful treatment is a proper diagnosis. The first thing we do, after building an understanding of your personal goals and motivators, is an extremely thorough exam to uncover all factors at play. We can then derive a diagnosis so that we know our treatment is appropriate specifically for you. All injuries are treated differently and it is important to prioritize the correct exercises for each injury, skill level, age and objective. Our goal is always to enable you to live at the highest activity level you are capable of, and maybe more than you thought.
If you have any knee pain happening with pickleball, or without pickleball, or you have a different type of pain entirely, don’t be shy! We are just a phone call away. Click here to speak with us today. We would love nothing more than to help you reclaim your quality of life!
I hope you all found this informative, wishing you the best in your recovery and activity!!
Best,
Dr. Trem