Effect of a Multi-Faceted Training Program on Falls in Senior Pickleball Players
Abstract
1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Study Design
2.2. Participants
2.3. Procedures
2.4. Statistical Analysis
3. Results
3.1. Baseline
3.2. Changes in Performance Measures
4. Discussion
5. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Description | Progressions | |
---|---|---|
Fast Feet | Jog in place, then attain a ready position on command Line step overs | None Lateral and front-to-back line step overs progressed via increase in speed |
Power | Lunge matrix Skater progression | Lunge matrix * Skater progression *
|
Balance | Partner (or wall) ball toss and catch | Note, if a participant was unable to stand on one leg while performing a secondary task, the drill was performed with a wider base of support, either in tandem stance (slightly easier) or with feet together(significantly easier)
|
Description | Progressions | |
---|---|---|
Change in Direction | Planned change in direction drills performed over half-court-width (~10 feet). |
|
Agility | Reactive drills where participants responded to a stimulus (BlazePod, researcher, or ball) to change directions |
|
Strength training exercises |
|
Training Group | Control Group | |
---|---|---|
Age (years) # | 67.1 ± 5.2 (range 57–74) | 65.2 ± 8.9 (range 57–84) |
Sex | ||
Female | 8 | 12 |
Male | 4 | 5 |
Years playing # | 2.1 ± 1.3 | 3.7 ± 3.9 |
Times per week playing pickleball # | 3.61 ± 1.67 | 3.83 ± 1.6 |
Skill level † | ||
≤2.0 | 0 | 0 |
2.5 | 0 | 1 |
3.0 | 7 | 7 |
3.5 | 5 | 8 |
4.0 | 0 | 1 |
>4.0 | 0 | 0 |
Falls (number) | 1.8 ± 1.8 | 1.6 ± 1.5 |
Walking ‡ | 0 (0–2) | 3 (1.5–6) * |
Jogging ‡ | 0 (0–0) | 0 (0–0) |
Cycling ‡ | 0 (0–0) | 0 (0–0) |
Swimming ‡ | 0 (0–0) | 0 (0–0) |
Strength training ‡ | 0 (0–3.75) | 1 (0–2.5) |
Racket sports other than pickleball ‡ | 0 (0–0) | 0 (0–0.5) |
Balance exercises ‡ | 0 (0–0) | 1 (0–2) * |
Measure | Group | Intervention Time 1 (mean ± SD) | Intervention Time 2 (mean ± SD) | Change | Effect |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Survey score | Training | 9.2 ± 4.5 | 6.2 ± 3.4 | −3 ‡ | Improved |
Control | 6.6 ± 3.8 | 7.6 ± 2.7 | +1 ‡ | Declined | |
Strength (Nm) | Training | 177.9 ± 58.8 | 187.8 ± 57.3 | +9.9 | Improved |
Control | 178.2 ± 38.9 | 159.8 ± 37.1 | −18.4 * | Declined | |
Total # | 178.0 ± 47.0 | 171.2 ± 47.5 | |||
Change in Direction (seconds) | Training | 9.2 ± 1.9 | 8.5 ± 1.9 | −0.7 * | Improved |
Control | 7.7 ± 1.8 | 8.1 ± 1.7 | +0.4 | Declined | |
Total # | 8.4 ± 1.9 | 8.3 ± 1.8 | |||
Agility (Hits) | Training | 15.1 ± 1.6 | 15.5 ± 1.7 | +0.4 | Improved |
Control | 16.1 ± 1.9 | 15.8 ± 2.1 | −0.3 | Declined | |
Total # | 15.4 ± 1.7 | 15.6 ± 1.9 |
Measure | Effect | Statistic | p-Value | Effect Size |
---|---|---|---|---|
Survey score | z = −2.427 | p = 0.015 * | r = 0.701 | |
Strength | Time | F (1, 25) = 2.02 | p = 0.261 | |
Group | F (1, 25) = 0.59 | p = 0.450 | ||
Group × Time | F (1, 25) = 14.86 | p < 0.001 * | η2 = 0.240 | |
Change of Direction | Time | F (1, 26) = 2.02 | p = 0.167 | |
Group | F (1, 26) = 1.83 | p = 0.188 | ||
Group × Time | F (1, 26) = 8.21 | p < 0.001 * | η2 = 0.373 | |
Agility | Time | F (1, 26) = 0.26 | p = 0.615 | |
Group | F (1, 26) = 0.68 | p = 0.419 | ||
Group × Time | F (1, 26) = 0.89 | p = 0.354 |
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Myers, B.; Hanks, J. Effect of a Multi-Faceted Training Program on Falls in Senior Pickleball Players. Healthcare 2025, 13, 2298. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare13182298
Myers B, Hanks J. Effect of a Multi-Faceted Training Program on Falls in Senior Pickleball Players. Healthcare. 2025; 13(18):2298. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare13182298
Chicago/Turabian StyleMyers, Betsy, and June Hanks. 2025. "Effect of a Multi-Faceted Training Program on Falls in Senior Pickleball Players" Healthcare 13, no. 18: 2298. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare13182298
APA StyleMyers, B., & Hanks, J. (2025). Effect of a Multi-Faceted Training Program on Falls in Senior Pickleball Players. Healthcare, 13(18), 2298. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare13182298