If you have ever heard about or played Pickleball, then you probably already know that it is the fastest growing sport since coming out of the pandemic. Fortunately, the greater Memphis area is a supporter of this intergenerational fun and athletic pastime. There are at least 15 dedicated areas to play in Memphis and the surrounding areas. Dr. John Lochemes, Board Certified Orthopedic Surgeon and Director of Titan Orthopedics, a Full Service Orthopedic Clinic in East Memphis, is a fan of Pickleball as well. He and his staff and their children are known to pick up a racket and “dink dink” a ball or two.
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This past weekend, the nationally recognized Campbell Clinic Orthopedics in Germantown, where Dr. Lochemes performs surgeries, held a popup Pickleball Event in collaboration with pickleball901.com. This was a fun afternoon for all who attended and brought to attention the need for proper pregame stretching and post game injury care. Pickleball was invented on Bainbridge Island, WA when a couple of friends got together and thought it was a good idea to make up the kind of game they wanted to play using the equipment they had on hand and a badminton net. For them, it was a combination of tennis, badminton, and ping pong. They essentially created a new sport that caught on because it was low impact, all ages could play together as a single or double team, using lightweight paddles and perforated wiffle-style balls, players were less likely to get hurt while playing the game.
Although Pickleball is known to require less muscle strength and be less impactful on joints than squash or tennis, it is still a sport that requires some strength, agility, and coordination. Think of going to your high school P.E. class and ask yourself, “can I do a few jumping jacks, knee pull-ups, arm windmills, and torso twists”. Now combine all of those with running back and forth and side to side, and you can come to a pretty close conclusion on how ready you are to play Pickleball. For someone going directly from couch to court or sofa to sport…there could potentially be an injury.
For those who are weekend sporters or weekend warriors, Dr. Lochemes suggests, “Do not overexert yourself and don't overdo it. Anyone who is going from the Chessboard to the Pickleball Court needs to have an activity transition period. Even though the sport is “low demand”, the body needs to be flexible and strong. Consider a transition period of yoga, tai chi, or possibly elliptical or resistance training.” Dr. Lochemes also says, “We often see players come in as patients with what used to be known as, “tennis knee/elbow” but is now “pickleball knee/elbow”, tendonitis caused by overuse”.
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Memphis and its surrounding suburb towns of Germantown, Arlington, Olive Branch, Collierville, Bartlett, and Cordova have a lot of options on where to play Pickleball. I Love Memphis has done a wonderful job of listing the available court options, fees, and times available for play. For those unfortunate times where there has been a court time injury, Titan Orthopedics offers a one-stop, start to finish knee doctors in Memphis TN-orthopedic clinic care and rehabilitation with in-house Physical Therapist Chris M. Valas, PT, DPT.
Here are a few interesting points about Pickleball according to a recent NBC News article, July 2023.
With Pickleball being such a popular and growing sport, you can also expect to see a rise in Pickleball related injuries. Most of these fall into 2 categories, those that can be put on ice and those that need immediate surgery. The first category, sprains and strains - usually involve swelling and pain and applying ice packs and getting to Titan Orthopedics the next day for an office visit. Fortunately, Titan Orthopedics, knee doctor near me, offers Biologics (PRP) for partial tears and is minimally invasive (basically 1 or 2 injection sites) and is highly effective to aid in healing for shoulder pain near me as well as offering memphis knee and orthopaedic surgery.
The second category, a fractured or broken bone, is more urgent and usually involves an immediate trip to the emergency room or is uncovered later by an x-ray, ultrasound, or MRI. For these situations, Dr. Lochemes may have to reset the broken bones into place or be able to perform the latest in minimally invasive same-day surgical procedures. Great care is always taken to offer the surgical site the best opportunity for healing and recovery.
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With the cooler fall weather coming upon us, it is a great time to play a few Pickleball games and be active on the courts. If the unexpected accident does happen, be sure to seek first-aid and contact Titan Orthopedics for an immediate visit by calling (901) 255-6532 or schedule an appointment online.
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