Pickleball and tennis are supposed to leave you feeling good. But if your lower back is sore after every session, there’s a good chance the culprit isn’t your swing — it’s all the bending.
Repeatedly stooping to pick up balls, dozens or hundreds of times a session, adds up fast. Here’s how to protect your back so you can play longer and more comfortably.
Bend at the hips, not the waist.
When you do reach down, hinge at your hips and keep a soft bend in your knees rather than rounding your lower back. Your spine will thank you.
Warm up before you play — and cool down after.
A few minutes of gentle movement before and some easy stretching after keeps the muscles around your spine loose and less prone to strain.
Don’t repeat the same motion hundreds of times.
It’s the volume that gets you. A hundred little bends to collect balls is a hundred chances to tweak something. The simplest fix is to remove the repeated bend entirely.
Stand tall when you collect.
Use a tool that lets you pick balls up from a standing position instead of stooping for each one. It’s the single biggest change most players can make to save their back on the court.
Listen to your body.
Soreness that lingers is worth paying attention to. Play smart, rest when you need to, and don’t power through real pain.
An easy fix for the biggest culprit
If bending to pick up balls is what’s getting you, that’s exactly what the ClearCourt Ball Tube solves — a 48″ tall design that lets you collect balls standing straight up, reducing bending and back strain, with a shoulder strap so you’re not lugging anything awkwardly. Pick up more, bend less.
See the ClearCourt Ball Tube: https://oncourtoffcourt.com/clearcourt-ball-tube/
Kalindi Dinoffer is trained in multiple aspects of mindfulness in life and in sports, sharing on her blog MindfulKalindi.com. She is also certified to teach yoga, fitness, reiki, and MFR. Kalindi also serves as CMO at OnCourtOffCourt.com, a leading supplier of tennis, pickleball, fitness and yoga training aids and equipment and has been published in Tennis industry Magazine and Pickleball Magazine, and has conducted workshops at conferences around the world. In her spare time, Kalindi plays tennis, pickleball and table tennis and enjoys outdoor activities such as hiking and biking and cross country skiing in the winter.
