Pilot Study of Neuromuscular Fatigue After Doubles Pickleball Tournament

Authors

Matthew Ritchey, Cal State Monterey BayFollow
Margaret Falknor, Cal State Monterey Bay
George Beckham, Cal State Monterey Bay
Eric Martin, Cal State Monterey BayFollow

Abstract

The number of people playing pickleball has grown exponentially for several years in a row, and likewise, the absolute number of injuries due to pickleball have increased. Examining fatigue effects of playing may be a first step to determining injury prevention and game or tournament management strategies. However, in our previous work, we could not detect fatigue after playing multiple recreational games of doubles pickleball. PURPOSE: The purpose of this pilot study was to examine fatigue effects from playing a doubles pickleball tournament. METHODS: Five young men (ages 22-45) tested their force production, as measured by performing a countermovement jump (CMJ) test on a Hawkins Dynamics force plate, at baseline (Pre1) and after 15 minutes of rest (Pre2). The test included two warm up jumps at 50% maximum effort, two warm up jumps at 75% maximal effort, and then four 100% maximum effort trials were performed, recorded, and averaged to generate the dependent variables. Then four participants played a nine game doubles pickleball tournament. All subjects completed the CMJ test after the tournament (Post). Force and power production metrics were examined using descriptive statistics and data visualization, and changes in time were tested using RM-ANOVA and partial eta-squares. RESULTS: One player was injured in the last game and couldn’t complete the Post testing. The F test from the RM-ANOVA detected no significant results. However, the partial eta-squares showed large improvements from Pre1 to Pre2 on most outcomes. From Pre2 to Post, there were again no significant differences, but large effect size differences on most measures. Data visualization indicated that all participants remained stable or improved from Pre1 to Pre2, and that all players improved from Pre2 to Post. Interestingly, the control subject generally worsened from Pre2 to Post CONCLUSION: Nine games of doubles pickleball may not cause neuromuscular fatigue in young men. There may be continued learning effects on the jump test after multiple sets of jump testing.

Recommended Citation

Ritchey, Matthew; Falknor, Margaret; Beckham, George; and Martin, Eric (2024) "Pilot Study of Neuromuscular Fatigue After Doubles Pickleball Tournament," International Journal of Exercise Science: Conference Proceedings: Vol. 14: Iss. 4, Article 35.
Available at: https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/ijesab/vol14/iss4/35