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. 2021 Aug 7;18(16):8374.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph18168374.

Pickleball for Inactive Mid-Life and Older Adults in Rural Utah: A Feasibility Study

Paige Wray  1 , Callahan K Ward  2 , Cindy Nelson  3 , Sandra H Sulzer  4 , Christopher J Dakin  4 , Brennan J Thompson  4 , Matthew Vierimaa  5 , Debasree Das Gupta  4 , David A E Bolton  4
Affiliations

Pickleball for Inactive Mid-Life and Older Adults in Rural Utah: A Feasibility Study

Paige Wray et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

Many diseases, disabilities, and mental health conditions associated with aging can be delayed or prevented through regular exercise. Several barriers to exercise, many of which are exacerbated in rural communities, prevent mid-life and older adults from accessing its benefits. However, recently, a racquet sport named pickleball has become popular among older adults, and it appears to overcome some of these barriers. We conducted a feasibility study to evaluate the impact of a six-week pickleball intervention on measures of muscle function, cognitive function, perceived pain, and cardio-metabolic risk, as well as several psychosocial factors contributing to adherence in sedentary rural participants. Participants improved their vertical jump, cognitive performance, and reported a decrease in self-reported pain, suggesting improved physical and cognitive health across the sample. Participants also reported high levels of satisfaction and demonstrated good adherence over the duration of the study. Perhaps of greatest value was the overwhelmingly positive response from participants to the intervention and follow-up interviews reporting a desire to continue pickleball play beyond the study period. Overall, pickleball appears to be a promising intervention to, (1) elicit functional- and cognitive-related improvements, and (2) motivate mid-life and older adults to adhere to exercise sufficiently long to benefit their health.

Keywords: exercise adherence; mid-life adults; older adults; pickleball.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Description of the game pickleball and summary of the experimental design. (A). Pickleball is played between two teams of two where, similar to tennis, the goal is to gain points by having the other team be unable to return the ball. (B). Pickleball is played on a 44 ft by 20 ft court using a ping-pong-like paddle and a whiffle ball. Pickleball differs from tennis in that the ball must be served underhand and players cannot approach the net to volley (Non-Volley Zone). (C). Outline of the experimental design. The study was conducted with physiological measures recorded before and after a 6-week, 3 session per week pickleball intervention. Three months following the post-test, we administered a qualitative follow-up questionnaire examining participants’ perceptions of the intervention. Wk. = week, Mo. = Month.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Pre-test and post-test values for jump height and grip strength. Data are means (SD). * indicates significantly improvements from pre-test, p < 0.001.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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