Many parents enroll their children in pickleball lessons from a young age – Photo: PN
Many parents take their children to the pickleball court. The fun and easy-to-practice nature of this sport is attracting more and more children, and introductory courses for young people are increasingly popular.
Playing a sport is generally always beneficial. Especially for children, it is essential to develop in them the habit of physical activity, a taste for sport and the pleasure of playing.
However, many parents are hesitant because pickleball is a relatively new sport. Its effects on motor skills, bones and joints, size and physical characteristics have been the subject of less scientific study than those of traditional racket sports such as tennis, table tennis and badminton.
Is pickleball really good for kids? This is a question that is the subject of more and more analysis. One of the main differences between pickleball and traditional sports is the level of movement and intensity of physical effort.
Tennis is considered a sport that requires a lot of running, quick changes of direction and great endurance, due to the much larger size of the court.
According to survey data published on PubMed – an organization owned by the US National Library of Medicine – the average heart rate of tennis players can reach around 152 beats per minute, which is higher than the 143 beats per minute when playing pickleball.
This figure shows that tennis requires a higher level of cardiovascular activity, which is crucial for the development of the cardiovascular system, endurance and metabolism in children.
In contrast, pickleball, due to its smaller court and lower average movement speed, places more emphasis on short-range reflexes and positional adjustments.
This is why many sports coaches feel that pickleball does not provide the same overall physical stimulation to children as traditional sports. Additionally, a comparison between pickleball and badminton reveals significant differences in effort intensity.
An article published in the magazine Environmental Research and Public Health indicates that badminton is a sport that requires speed, jumping, constant changes of direction and extremely fast reflexes. It is also an Olympic sport.
Studies on this sport show that its practice can improve cardiovascular health, weight management and reflexes, all essential elements for the overall development of children.
Regarding pickleball, no clear study has so far demonstrated the same benefits in terms of reflexes and cardiovascular effects as badminton.
Regarding table tennis, Pubmed indicates that numerous scientific studies have evaluated the sport as an effective physical education tool for children because it develops hand-eye coordination, quick reflexes and complex tactical thinking.
A study measuring the effectiveness of table tennis in children aged 9 to 12 showed that after 8 weeks of practice, indicators such as VO₂max, anaerobic strength, reaction speed and hip flexibility significantly improved compared to the non-practicing group.
It should be noted, however, that there is still no real scientific research demonstrating that children learning pickleball will perform less well than those learning traditional racket sports.
The PubMed article simply concludes that while tennis, table tennis and badminton have demonstrated clear benefits for young children, pickleball has yet to be proven.
Therefore, if parents want to play it safe, they should favor traditional racket sports rather than a sport not recognized by the Olympic movement and lacking a comprehensive training system and scientific research.
Source : https://tuoitre.vn/tre-em-co-nen-hoc-pickleball-thay-vi-tennis-bong-ban-cau-long-20260202073237008.htm
