Pickleball Injuries

Pickleball is Snapping Achilles Tendons - and Age Matters

Pickleball's popularity has exploded 1000% since 2019, bringing an unexpected injury

spike. Achilles tendon ruptures (ATRs) requiring surgery jumped from 0.5% to 6.7% of

all cases in just three years.

Who's most at risk?

Older adults are diproprotionately affected. Among pickleball players with Achilles

injuries, 82.5% were over 50 years old - far higher than tennis (32.6%) or other sports

(19%).

Why it happens

Pickleball is uniquely dangerous for older adults, demanding explosive lateral movements that are bio-mechanically brutal on aging tendons, which typically haven't

experienced this kind of stress before

How to reduce risk

Warm up before playing, stretch those calves with eccentric stretching, and maybe leave

the hero dives to the 30-year-olds