[ThirdOfFive]

Originally Posted by kingofbeer

#1 National estimates show approximately 24,461 pickleball-related emergency department visits per year in the United States, based on recent data from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS)

Don't doubt the stat, but...

how can there be 24,461 ER-worthy injuries per year resulting from basically just standing around and doing almost nothing?

[Packer Fan]

Originally Posted by kingofbeer

#1 National estimates show approximately 24,461 pickleball-related emergency department visits per year in the United States, based on recent data from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS)

In the U.S., playing tennis results in an estimated average of 21,500 to 22,000 emergency room visits per year. Sprains and strains in the lower extremities are the most common diagnoses leading to these ED visits.
So I would say that tennis is much more dangerous since like a third as many people that play pickleball play tennis.

[Howdy]

Originally Posted by kingofbeer

#1 National estimates show approximately 24,461 pickleball-related emergency department visits per year in the United States, based on recent data from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS)

Without question playing Pickleball like any sport injuries do occur, however compared to the following below. Which I looked into.

#1 Tennis = Is higher overall due to Servers & Smashes, (Upper Body & Back).

#2 Basketball/Soccer = Is higher due to (Contact, Jumping, & Collisions)

Bottomline Pickleball injuries are increasing that was (is) bound to happen with a sport that is competitive for many.

That said compared it to the above statistically the figures speak for themselves.

Here in The Villages the injuries are relatively high taking into account the " Age " factor. Explanation not needed.

[Howdy]

Originally Posted by Packer Fan

Spending 20 minutes hitting a wiffle ball with a beach tennis paddle is nothing close to playing actual pickleball. We love when tennis players want to play pickleball and think they're going to be so good. Yes they progress fast if they drill and learn the game correctly. Some do some don't. The ones who hang back at the baseline get slaughtered eventually. Real pickleball has way more strategy than tennis, and on top of it it's a much faster game. Once you get to the intermediate level you have to anticipate because that Ball's coming pretty fast.
The reality is tennis is a dying sport, and tennis courts all over the world are being converted to pickleball courts. Somebody said something about pickleball being a fad, well it started in 1965 and has been growing ever since and the growth is accelerating. I wouldn't call a sport that's been growing for 60 years a fad.
There was also some criticism in an earlier post about the PVGC being some sort of outside group that takes over the courts. That could not be further from the truth. They are a full-fledged Villages club and you have to be a village resident to even belong. They're the ones who reserve the courts for different Play levels. If you would have started your journey by taking the introduction to pickleball they offer and going through all of their different free classes, you would probably be a pickleball fanatic at this point. It's a bunch of people who volunteer their time, some of them almost every day, to help people learn and progress in a sport that they love. It's an awesome group and the person who posted that should be ashamed of themselves.
As far as the people who are best in the sport being ashamed of it? I doubt that Ben John's and Anna Lee Waters, who are both multimillionaires playing on the pro circuit are ashamed of themselves any more than Rodger Federer or Billie Jean King should be. Many of the top tennis players now play pickleball such as Andre Agassi, but they can't beat the top pickleball players.
My last comment is about the OPs initial statement, which I have seen. It is highly dependent on the court. If you're not comfortable at one of the courts, go to another one. There are courts I tell beginners to avoid like Big Cypress, where there are a lot of people like that. I would suggest Coconut cove or Bradenton for beginner open Play, or manatee on Wednesday afternoon. There is also a fantastic group called The tadpoles which controls who gets in. If you're interested in getting into the tadpoles DM me. The biggest thing you can do for yourself is get into the PVGC instructional program. There is also an excellent program called 316 pickleball, that does drill and play for beginners up and they control who's on what court by skill level. It's an awesome program there's no sign up and you just show up at Churchill on Mondays at noon or Riverbend Fridays at noon.
The reality is there is nothing more satisfying than going back to a beginner open Play, playing against those guys, and beating them soundly. The first time you reset one of their drives into the kitchen, or drop a third shot drop at their feet that they put into the net, it's a great feeling. The only other thing you can do is call them out or avoid them. It's much more fun to get good enough to beat them, but that takes a lot of time and years of commitment, because pickleball is a lot tougher sport to learn and play well than tennis.

Well written & pointed out 100% correctly. What it all boils down to in very simple terms .... Some People " Get It " while others like some Children will Never Get It. That's where shaking your head & walking away comes into play.

[kingofbeer]

Originally Posted by Packer Fan

Spending 20 minutes hitting a wiffle ball with a beach tennis paddle is nothing close to playing actual pickleball. We love when tennis players want to play pickleball and think they're going to be so good. Yes they progress fast if they drill and learn the game correctly. Some do some don't. The ones who hang back at the baseline get slaughtered eventually. Real pickleball has way more strategy than tennis, and on top of it it's a much faster game. Once you get to the intermediate level you have to anticipate because that Ball's coming pretty fast.
The reality is tennis is a dying sport, and tennis courts all over the world are being converted to pickleball courts. Somebody said something about pickleball being a fad, well it started in 1965 and has been growing ever since and the growth is accelerating. I wouldn't call a sport that's been growing for 60 years a fad.
There was also some criticism in an earlier post about the PVGC being some sort of outside group that takes over the courts. That could not be further from the truth. They are a full-fledged Villages club and you have to be a village resident to even belong. They're the ones who reserve the courts for different Play levels. If you would have started your journey by taking the introduction to pickleball they offer and going through all of their different free classes, you would probably be a pickleball fanatic at this point. It's a bunch of people who volunteer their time, some of them almost every day, to help people learn and progress in a sport that they love. It's an awesome group and the person who posted that should be ashamed of themselves.
As far as the people who are best in the sport being ashamed of it? I doubt that Ben John's and Anna Lee Waters, who are both multimillionaires playing on the pro circuit are ashamed of themselves any more than Rodger Federer or Billie Jean King should be. Many of the top tennis players now play pickleball such as Andre Agassi, but they can't beat the top pickleball players.
My last comment is about the OPs initial statement, which I have seen. It is highly dependent on the court. If you're not comfortable at one of the courts, go to another one. There are courts I tell beginners to avoid like Big Cypress, where there are a lot of people like that. I would suggest Coconut cove or Bradenton for beginner open Play, or manatee on Wednesday afternoon. There is also a fantastic group called The tadpoles which controls who gets in. If you're interested in getting into the tadpoles DM me. The biggest thing you can do for yourself is get into the PVGC instructional program. There is also an excellent program called 316 pickleball, that does drill and play for beginners up and they control who's on what court by skill level. It's an awesome program there's no sign up and you just show up at Churchill on Mondays at noon or Riverbend Fridays at noon.
The reality is there is nothing more satisfying than going back to a beginner open Play, playing against those guys, and beating them soundly. The first time you reset one of their drives into the kitchen, or drop a third shot drop at their feet that they put into the net, it's a great feeling. The only other thing you can do is call them out or avoid them. It's much more fun to get good enough to beat them, but that takes a lot of time and years of commitment, because pickleball is a lot tougher sport to learn and play well than tennis.

"The reality is there is nothing more satisfying than going back to a beginner open Play, playing against those guys, and beating them soundly. The first time you reset one of their drives into the kitchen, or drop a third shot drop at their feet that they put into the net, it's a great feeling. The only other thing you can do is call them out or avoid them. It's much more fun to get good enough to beat them, but that takes a lot of time and years of commitment, because pickleball is a lot tougher sport to learn and play well than tennis."

You enjoy beating up on less experience players than you? If you are serious, that tell us more than we need to know.
Care to share a video that showcases your skills?
I think pickleball is harder to play than tennis because the ball bounces at your feet and ankles which makes it hard to hit. Tennis balls bounce much higher and are easier to stroke thru and follow thru.

[kingofbeer]

Originally Posted by ThirdOfFive

Don't doubt the stat, but...

how can there be 24,461 ER-worthy injuries per year resulting from basically just standing around and doing almost nothing?

Because the players around here have problems just moving around. Many are overweight and have underlying conditions. They can get hurt just moving from point a to point b on the miniature court.

[justjim]

When I was playing more “competitive” golf, I saw several softball and pickleball players with various injuries who decided to pass on those sports so they could just concentrate on golf. Some golfers have big egos too. Age/health has a lot to do with what sport you play in The Villages. To each their own.

[RoboVil]

Originally Posted by Packer Fan

There was also some criticism in an earlier post about the PVGC being some sort of outside group that takes over the courts. That could not be further from the truth. They are a full-fledged Villages club and you have to be a village resident to even belong.
.

From the PCVG website: "The PCVG was organized as a not-for-profit corporation in the State of Florida in 2022." PCVG is an outside corporation, not a club. Their mission says they support villagers' pickleball, but what I see is they take over way too many courts, and seem to collect money from Villagers and health entities. At rec centers where there are 3 pods (18 courts) they will take over all 18 courts and often don't even have enough recruits to fill all the courts.

[Topspinmo]

Originally Posted by Packer Fan

Spending 20 minutes hitting a wiffle ball with a beach tennis paddle is nothing close to playing actual pickleball. We love when tennis players want to play pickleball and think they're going to be so good. Yes they progress fast if they drill and learn the game correctly. Some do some don't. The ones who hang back at the baseline get slaughtered eventually. Real pickleball has way more strategy than tennis, and on top of it it's a much faster game. Once you get to the intermediate level you have to anticipate because that Ball's coming pretty fast.
The reality is tennis is a dying sport, and tennis courts all over the world are being converted to pickleball courts. Somebody said something about pickleball being a fad, well it started in 1965 and has been growing ever since and the growth is accelerating. I wouldn't call a sport that's been growing for 60 years a fad.
There was also some criticism in an earlier post about the PVGC being some sort of outside group that takes over the courts. That could not be further from the truth. They are a full-fledged Villages club and you have to be a village resident to even belong. They're the ones who reserve the courts for different Play levels. If you would have started your journey by taking the introduction to pickleball they offer and going through all of their different free classes, you would probably be a pickleball fanatic at this point. It's a bunch of people who volunteer their time, some of them almost every day, to help people learn and progress in a sport that they love. It's an awesome group and the person who posted that should be ashamed of themselves.
As far as the people who are best in the sport being ashamed of it? I doubt that Ben John's and Anna Lee Waters, who are both multimillionaires playing on the pro circuit are ashamed of themselves any more than Rodger Federer or Billie Jean King should be. Many of the top tennis players now play pickleball such as Andre Agassi, but they can't beat the top pickleball players.
My last comment is about the OPs initial statement, which I have seen. It is highly dependent on the court. If you're not comfortable at one of the courts, go to another one. There are courts I tell beginners to avoid like Big Cypress, where there are a lot of people like that. I would suggest Coconut cove or Bradenton for beginner open Play, or manatee on Wednesday afternoon. There is also a fantastic group called The tadpoles which controls who gets in. If you're interested in getting into the tadpoles DM me. The biggest thing you can do for yourself is get into the PVGC instructional program. There is also an excellent program called 316 pickleball, that does drill and play for beginners up and they control who's on what court by skill level. It's an awesome program there's no sign up and you just show up at Churchill on Mondays at noon or Riverbend Fridays at noon.
The reality is there is nothing more satisfying than going back to a beginner open Play, playing against those guys, and beating them soundly. The first time you reset one of their drives into the kitchen, or drop a third shot drop at their feet that they put into the net, it's a great feeling. The only other thing you can do is call them out or avoid them. It's much more fun to get good enough to beat them, but that takes a lot of time and years of commitment, because pickleball is a lot tougher sport to learn and play well than tennis.

You do know 90% pro pickleball players are ex tennis players or trained by ex tennis players that couldn’t make enough money on pro tour or couldn’t compete. So they went to next best thing pickleball. And for those that say Anna Lea? both her parents are ex collage tennis players, so there the bases of game for her.

And yes the PVGC does hog lot court times.

[Topspinmo]

Originally Posted by TheVillageGlossator

Yes, I tried pickleball. Twenty minutes of swatting a Wiffle ball with a beach tennis paddle confirmed what I had always suspected: it’s an amusing pastime, but hardly a serious sport. I’ll stick with tennis.

Ok now you better watch out starting to sound like errands of both pickleball, tennis, and golf.

[Topspinmo]

Originally Posted by kingofbeer

#1 National estimates show approximately 24,461 pickleball-related emergency department visits per year in the United States, based on recent data from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS)

Ok, how many were overweight that laid on the couch for 50 years? How many never played racket sport long enough develop coordination to stay vertical. How many had underlining joint/health issues before the stepped onto court. How many stretched and warmed up before they stated jumping around? IMO out 24,461, 10 actual players that can play at high level probably got injured.

[Topspinmo]

[QUOTE=TheVillageGlossator;2546687]

Originally Posted by Laker14

Joey Chestnut has made millions as a professional competitive hot-dog eater, winning championships sponsored by Nathan’s Famous Hot Dogs. Does that make competitive eating a distinguished sport? Carvana and Selkirk can shower professional pickleball players with money, just as Nathan’s rewards its hot-dog champions. But a lucrative corporate spectacle is not necessarily a dignified sporting pursuit. Money cannot buy pedigree.

You could say that about any professional sport that players get paid. Sponsor’s going to sponsor there product bottom line, naturally bigger the sport the more sponsors/more money. take golf for one rally a non athletic sport, just swing club and walk to ball. You can be skinny, 200 pounds over weight but as long as you can swing club you good to go, don’t even have carry bag.

[Topspinmo]

[QUOTE=kingofbeer;2546581]

Originally Posted by Laker14

Pickleball is a silly sport. The ball does not bounce much, so you have to bend down to your ankles to hit the ball back. So many injuries can and will happen when you play this game. Especially harmful for the seniors here. I have watched the level of play at the local courts here and it is poor. I know many of these players play every day. Not sure what their level is 2 or 3. Where I used to live, they had a semi-pro tournament and you could see how the game is played at the highest level and it is completely different. These players glide on the court when they move. It almost looks like tennis is being played. Here the seniors struggle to get to the kitchen. I won't waste my time playing this silly little game risking getting hurt badly.

Only the balls approved by authorities and ones used in villages (which are good, but once they get ruffed up they can bounce differently. ONix pure balls bounce good throughout there life, but authorities limit how high pickleballs can bounce, ONIX pure balls bounce just outside the height limit so they are not sanctioned by pickleball authorities (probably don’t grease enough palms to get them approved) most don’t like the soft high bouncing balls the are easier to get to and harder to put away.

[FastAndCurious]

My pickleball strategy helps me enjoy the game. First, we have no control over others. It will only increase your frustration if you try. Usually there is a line at the beginner open plays. Yes, there may be some advanced players there that really don't belong. I only play them once. I adjust my position in line to avoid a second chance at being humiliated because it takes the fun out of it. That is something that I CAN control. Second, I always try to play at the level of my opponents. If they are new, I dumb my playing down when needed so they have a good experience. It's all about having fun. No need to allow someone else to ruin your good time.

[rsmurano]

Originally Posted by kingofbeer

#1 National estimates show approximately 24,461 pickleball-related emergency department visits per year in the United States, based on recent data from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS)

Probably from beginners trying to play against 5.0 players