Newton is embracing the pickleball craze, supporting programs, lessons and free play at outdoor and indoor courts across the city. Residents are swinging pickleball paddles at the McGrath Courts in West Newton, in the Cooper Center for Active Living and, soon, on six new courts at the Albemarle Field complex in Newtonville.

Older residents especially are putting fitness opportunities at the top of their to-do lists. The goal is healthy aging. But the risk of injury is real, and pickleball players, known as “picklers,” should follow some basic rules to play safely and enjoy fitness benefits.

The physiological and social positives of pickleball span all five domains of “intrinsic capacity,” a relatively new health metric: cognition, locomotion, sensory capacity, psychological well-being, and vitality. 

Researchers increasingly see the metric as the prime indicator of a person’s potential health span, the number of years he or she can live in good health free of chronic disease and physical and mental disability. 

“No question, pickleball fills a social gap among retirees,” said Ami Gordon, a Newton resident and certified instructor with Newton Community Education. “The interactiveness makes it an amazing way to connect.”

But empirical evidence shows that pickleball injuries are on the rise, especially among older adults. Why? I believe it is because people tend to underestimate the demands it places on the body. 

“I often find myself reminding students that getting to the ball isn’t as important as [evading injury],” said Gordon. “People show up thinking they can dominate the court, but the game requires more coordination and stamina than you expect.”

And many players try to do more than they should.

“You’re always going to try to hit the ball, even if it’s a little bit out of reach,” said Ellen Rothman, a Watertown pickler who had to give the game up after falling on the court.

This does not mean, however, that folks ought to avoid pickleball because it is too dangerous. Rather, if picklers approach the game with a sense of preparation, they can be more confident in their decision to start or continue playing. 

To that end, I’ll offer a few basic rules that would help pickleball live up to its promise as a safer, sustainable activity for Newton residents of all ages. 

Rule No. 1: Be intentional with the warm-up 

The sharp side-to-side and front-to-back nature of pickleball can put maximal stress on joints and connective tissue. Trouble is, this is precisely where things often go awry, especially if the body hasn’t been prepared for impact. A basic routine looks like this: 

– Stretch the prime movers in the legs (hamstrings, quadriceps and calves).

– Get the thoracic spine moving with rotation, tilting and extension. 

– Loosen the hips with some cross crawl marching, where you touch one arm to the opposite thigh with each step.

– Stabilize the hips by getting into a birddog position on the floor. Hold rigid for 15 seconds per side, five times through. Be sure to push your heel back behind you, and stretch forward with the opposite hand as far as possible.

– Fire up the hips with some single-leg hinges. From a standing position, reach both hands forward while reaching one leg behind you above the ground. Feel as if you get “long and low”; repeat on both sides several times through. 

– Prepare the lower body’s connective tissue with what I call “gentle jarring.” My favorite is bounding from foot-to-foot, diagonally forward with each step. Stick the landing each time, and pause for a beat before the next.

Rule No. 2:  Train for endurance 

Overuse and catastrophic injuries are more likely to occur in a state of fatigue. You lose focus, coordination and the ability to sense where you are in space. 

Off the court, weave in a mix of longer, steady-state efforts (walking, biking, elliptical), as well as 30- to 45-minute sessions that consist of very short, intense efforts broken up by full-recovery periods. 

Rule No. 3: Train for resiliency 

Pre-emptive training to ward off injury means weekly attention in four key categories: 

Connective tissue toughness: Tendons and ligaments can be toughened to more ably withstand forces that could be injurious. Isometric exercises, deceleration drills, and high-repetition bodyweight training are the three places I look to first. 

Joint mobility: Injuries happen whenever a joint gets forced too quickly beyond its active range of motion, which is all too easy to do when dashing after a moving ball. If you work to get stronger at the outer limits of your joint mobility, especially in the hips, knees and shoulders, you do yourself a great service. 

Muscular overload: Over the course of a given week, try to expose your muscles to external resistance in each movement pattern: squat, pull, press and hinge. This holds true whether your goal is to play pickleball, walk your dog pain-free, or keep up with your kids and grandkids. 

Falling practice (or, rather, “not-falling” practice): As unlikely as it seems, simply getting onto the ground and rolling around will teach your vestibular system how to sense and break a fall with less impact. Meanwhile, Dan John’s “stumble-proofing drill” acts as rehearsal for catching your balance when caught off guard. Both are easy and quick add-ons to your day, with the potential to save your butt in the heat of the moment on the court. 

In the context of a deeper health span, the main point of any exercise is to make sure to come back tomorrow. Train for the faults that pickleball exposes. Swing the injury odds in your favor. And keep having fun on the court.

Rob Skinner is a Newton resident who works as a group fitness coach and personal trainer. He can be reached at robbyskinner@gmail.com.