The most common injury in pickleball isn’t “Tennis Elbow”—it’s a wrist fracture caused by FOOSH (Falling On Outstretched Hand). When you lose your balance, your instinct screams at you to catch yourself with your hands. Do not listen to it. To survive a fall without breaking a bone, you must fight gravity, tuck your chin, and roll onto the “meaty” parts of your body (shoulder/glutes).
Let’s get real for a moment; falls are inevitable, especially in a sport as dynamic as pickleball. I used to brush off the idea of “fall prevention” as an illusion. I believed that instead of trying to prevent falls, we should be focusing on minimizing injury during those falls. But my experiences on the pickleball court taught me that it’s a blend of both; learning to fall gracefully and taking preventive measures to avoid these tumbles in the first place. With pickleball injuries on the rise, you want to do everything you can to stay on the court!