Pickleball for Weight Loss: Is It Right for You?

Due to overweight or obesity, some sports may be more appropriate or recommended than others, to avoid frustration and injuries. Sport with high impact, tennis is not the easiest for people whose body mass index (BMI) exceeds the “standard”.

Researchers were thus interested in an alternative to tennis still rather unknown in France: pickleball. Racket sport, pickleball thus combines elements of tennis, padel, badminton and table tennis. It is intended to be more accessible, more fun, more affordable from a physical point of view.

In a new study, published in the journal Sports Medicine – Open (Source 1), researchers from Saint Louis University in the United States reveal that having a high BMI does not come against the practice of pickelball, quite the contrary. This racket sport would not increase the risk of injury in overweight or obese people.

« Unlike other sports where BMI increases the risk of injury, Pickleball seems safe For overweight or obese people “Said Oli Owoeye, an associate professor of physiotherapy and the main study of the study. “” Pickleball could be ideal physical activity to control your weight “, He said, quoted in a press release (source 2).

The study was conducted with 1,758 pickleball players aged 18 and over, and practicing this sport at least once a month. If the results have revealed the high presence of injuries (68.5 % of participants reported at least one injury in the past 12 months), sometimes serious (sprains, threads, elongations), these were not more frequent in players with a high BMI.

On the other hand, playing very often or being inexpensive, or even being little aware of injury were risk factors associated with the occurrence of an injury. The age group between 33 and 77 years old was most at risk.

Researchers also recall the importance of Perform warm -up exercises before playingto set up recovery routines, and to support beginners players in this sport.