In this episode, I’m digging into a question that sounds almost absurd until you look at the data: why is pickleball—arguably the “sweetest, safest-looking” sport in the park—sending so many people to the emergency room?

Pickleball looks harmless. The court is small. The serve is underhand. The ball is basically a wiffle ball. And yet, ER records tell a different story: fractures (especially wrists), sprains, strains, and a pattern that’s hard to ignore—older adults showing up for pickleball injuries at rates that started to rival tennis. I walk through what’s really happening, and why the sport’s design quietly creates the perfect setup for falls, tendon overload, and sudden-stop injuries.

I explain how two rules—the double bounce and the kitchen—shape the way your body has to move: quick lunges, short sprints, abrupt decelerations, and reactive steps at the net. It doesn’t look like sprinting, but it often acts like sprinting in bursts. And that mismatch—between what the game demands and what many bodies are prepared for—is where trouble starts.

But I’m not here to villainize pickleball. In fact, I make the case for why it’s one of the most powerful “stealth health” activities out there: it’s fun enough that people actually show up, it can hit moderate intensity, and studies suggest benefits for lower-body power, cognition, and even chronic pain when it’s introduced with a smart ramp-up. The problem isn’t pickleball—it’s the gap between enthusiasm and preparation.

We also get specific about the injuries that worry clinicians: the Achilles rupture story (tendons adapt slowly, even when you feel “fit”), the rare-but-serious eye injuries that can threaten vision, and the overuse problems the ER doesn’t capture—things like tennis elbow and shoulder tendinopathy that creep in when you play back-to-back without recovery.

And then I give you the practical fix: how to make pickleball safer without ruining the fun. I walk through a simple warm-up framework (RAMP), the strength and balance basics that reduce fall risk, and the small decisions that matter more than people realize—court shoes, gradual play-time build, rest days, and yes, eye protection if you’re living at the net.

This isn’t about playing harder. It’s about playing longer.Dr. Marbas Substack: https://drlauriemarbas.substack.com/

A Big Thank You To Our Sponsors:

If you want the best supplement to help you on your plant-based journey, you have to try Complement: https://lovecomplement.com/?aff=62

In this episode, I’m sharing a movement that looks a little ridiculous… but tells you a lot about your body in seconds: the duck walk—walking forward while staying in a deep squat.

I take you back to where it actually came from: not fitness, but medicine. In the 1950s, orthopedic surgeons used the duck walk as a quick stress test for knee problems—especially the meniscus—because deep bending under body weight can reveal issues fast. And that’s exactly why it’s so interesting: it’s not just an exercise, it’s a snapshot of your mobility, strength, balance, and joint tolerance all at once.

I break down what the duck walk really is (deep squat + tiny controlled steps), why it feels brutally hard almost immediately, and what’s happening under the hood—your quads and glutes staying “on” the whole time, the higher energy cost, and the balance/proprioception challenge that makes most people wobble at first.

Then I share my own story: after breaking my left ankle and spending weeks in a boot, I struggled to fully get my mobility back—even when I stretched. The duck walk surprised me. It helped restore ankle dorsiflexion, made my deep squat steadier, and the improvement was noticeable enough that I kept it as a long-term practice.

But I’m also very clear about the fine print. This movement asks a lot from your knees. I walk through the key structures it stresses (patellofemoral joint, tibiofemoral joint, meniscus), the warning signs that mean you should stop (sharp pain, swelling later, catching/locking, giving way), and who should skip it or only do it with guidance.

Finally, I give you the practical “how”: treat it like a skill, start supported, keep steps small, modify the depth, and progress through simple phases over a few weeks instead of turning it into a knee lottery. If you want a fast way to assess where your weak link is—ankles, knees, balance, or strength—this episode will help you figure it out and build it safely.Dr. Marbas Substack: https://drlauriemarbas.substack.com/

A Big Thank You To Our Sponsors:

If you want the best supplement to help you on your plant-based journey, you have to try Complement: https://lovecomplement.com/?aff=62