Researchers Find Serious Pickleball Health Benefits

The sweat is flowing, you’re huffing and puffing, and after your partner rips a killer sideline winner it’s all you can do to gasp, “nice shot!” You know you’re getting a workout when you hit the pickleball court for some games.  But just how good of a workout are you actually getting?

 A lot of variables go into that answer, of course, but a study by researchers at the University of Manitoba in Canada provides a helpful framework to better understand the physiological benefits of pickleball.

 Entitled Physical Activity Intensity of Singles and Doubles Pickleball in Older Adults, this study published on-line last September in the Journal of Aging and Physical Activity found that most of the time players are on the court, they are engaged in moderate to vigorous intensity exercise. 

Specifically, the researchers collected data from 22 singles and 31 doubles players who were wearing smart devices (the Garmin Fenix 5 watch and ActiGraph GT3X+ accelerometer) that tracked their heart rates and steps. The ages of the participants ranged from 29 to 73, with an average age of 62, and the doubles play took place outside in 80-degree weather. The researchers monitored singles players for 135 minutes and doubles players for 91 minutes. Time players spent waiting for a court was excluded from analysis, which left doubles play time at 106 minutes and singles at 71 minutes for analysis.

The findings: The average heart rates (beats per minute) during singles and doubles play were 111.6 and 111.5, respectively. Just over 70% of the singles and doubles playtime (excluding time spent waiting for a court) was categorized in moderate to vigorous heart rate zones.

While average heart rates for singles and doubles play were remarkably similar, the steps per hour varied much more for the two types of games. Steps per hour in doubles play came in at 2,790, while single play was nearly 20% higher, at 3,322.

“Singles and doubles pickleball are moderate- to vigorous-intensity activities that can contribute substantially toward older adults meeting physical activity guidelines,” the researchers concluded.

What is “moderate” intensity exercise? The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines it as “working hard enough to raise your heartbeat and break a sweat. One way to tell if it’s a moderate-intensity aerobic activity is that you’ll be able to talk, but not sing the words to your favorite song.”  As examples, the CDC cites walking briskly, engaging in water aerobics, and biking slower than 10 miles per hour on primarily flat terrain.

You know you’ve reached “vigorous” intensity exercise when you are not able to say more than a few words without pausing for a breath. Exercise examples include running, swimming laps, and singles tennis.

Now you know the definitions.  How much exercise should you shoot for?  Of course, consult with your physician, but general guidelines laid out by the US government recommend that adults get at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity physical activity, or an equivalent combination each week.  Ideally, spread it out throughout the week.

Pickle Madness caught up with Dr. Sandra Webber, lead author of the study, and pickleball player herself, to discuss the research.

Tell us a bit about yourself professionally as well as Sandra Webber the pickleball player.

I’m a physical therapist.  I’ve been a faculty member in the Department of Physical Therapy at the University of Manitoba for a number of years, as an associate professor teaching and conducting research that generally focuses on exercise and physical activity in older populations. I have a background in tennis, playing at the provincial level in my teens, but then got busy with university and family and career.  I was looking for something to pick up and took up pickleball when I turned 50 and haven’t looked back.  I’m a 3.8 player who plays in the 4.0 mix in tournaments.

What do you like about pickleball and how does it compare with your experiences with tennis?

The great thing about pickleball is people who don’t have a racquet-sport background can play right away.  You can quickly have good rallies, and that hooks people, it’s fun. And pickleball is more accessible – it’s cheaper, you don’t have to be a member of an exclusive club, you can just pay a drop-in fee.  And you tend to play in groups. There are lots of opportunities to just show up and play without partners or opponents pre-arranged, and you play someone different each time. It makes it more social.

There are differences in the physical demands related to the two sports. It depends on how you play tennis.  A lot of people who are not proficient at tennis spend a lot of time walking around picking up balls.  With pickleball, it’s easier to have a rally.  So you can get more physical activity out of it, go more times per week, and stay longer.

Was there anything that came out of study that surprised you?

I was surprised and happy to see that so much of the time people were playing was in the moderate to vigorous intensity zones. Our bottom line, we can confidently say these participants, at an intermediate level in the conditions they were playing in, spent 70% of their playing time in a moderate to vigorous zone.  That means pickleball will allow people to meet physical activity guidelines. And playing provides good stimulus for bone as well, and muscle to some extent. I do think people should do more than play pickleball.  It is good to intersperse some resistance training throughout the week.

What should be the main message that people take from the study?

Pickleball is a serious leisure activity. That’s an important message to get out.  It is a good fitness activity if played at an intermediate level or higher.  It’s an accessible way to improve and maintain fitness as you get older and to have fun while doing so.

Dr. Sandra Webber is a professor in the Department of Physical Therapy at the University of Manitoba and avid pickleball player.