Protecting Your Back In Pickleball With Three Basic Stretches

Back pain is a common injury that prevents players from hitting the court. Unlike limb-specific injuries, like Achilles tendinopathy or tendonitis, general back pain often inhibits all body movements, as your spine is integral to most athletic positions and swings while on the pickleball court.

Fortunately, there are many ways of improving your back pain. Whether you’re on the road to recovery following a traumatic injury or rehabbing your back after years of overuse injuries, the following simple stretches will go a long way in mitigating back pain!

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Pickleball Union (@pickleball.union)

Basic Bridge Stretch

Before we start testing your core with an exercise band, it’s a good idea to familiarize yourself with the movement as a whole. A standard bridge helps strengthen your glutes and hamstrings while also helping with your spinal stability.

Find an open space in your home, or even at the pickleball court before a match, and throw down a mat for added comfort for the stretch, as you will be lying down on your back.

1. Lay down on the floor with your arms at your sides and knees bent so your feet are flat on the ground, directly beneath your knees.
2. Using your abdominal muscles and glutes, lift your hips off the ground while keeping your upper back and shoulders against the ground.
3. Bring your hips upwards so that your body creates a straight line from your knees all the way down to your shoulders. 
4. Hold this position for up to 30 seconds, then slowly lower your hips back down to the starting position.
5. Repeat this exercise for a total of 8-10 reps.

Double-Leg Banded Glute Bridge

Now that you’ve got the feeling for the standard bridge, it’s time to add a light resistance band for some added glute activation. The added resistance from the band makes this a much more effective workout, as more secondary muscle groups will be targeted during the exercise.

Having a lot of your glutes, back, and core muscles engage in this exercise will allow for more spinal stability and mobility when moving around the pickleball court. Those without back pain should even use these exercises, as we noticed a significant difference in posture and flexibility during pickleball matches when including these stretches in our warm-ups.

1. Choose a resistance band of an appropriate weight (we recommend starting with lightweight bands) and lay down in the standard bridge position.
2. Place the band around both thighs so that it is situated just above your knees.
3. Follow the same instructions for a basic bridge stretch, except this time, try stretching your knees apart against the resistance band. When doing banded bridges, you should feel significantly more burn in your core and back muscles.
4. Hold the position for up to 10 seconds before releasing and returning to the starting position.
5. Repeat this exercise for a total of 8-10 reps.

Single-Leg Banded Glute Bridge

The “final form” of the bridge stretch is by doing single-leg banded glute bridges. These add the element of balance to the equation, which then targets more secondary muscles in your lower body and core.

Note: If these feel overwhelming with the band and being on one foot, try single-leg bridges without the band! This will help test your balance before adding resistance to the equation.

1. Get into the laying position for bridges with a band around your thighs, just like the double-leg banded glute bridge.
2. Before pushing upright into the bridge position, lift one leg straight out. You’ll notice added glute activation while you move your hips upright into the bridge position.
3. Hold the bridge for up to 10 seconds before returning down to the ground.
4. Switch legs, and repeat for a total of 8-10 reps for each side.