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Sore Back After Pickleball? A Tennis Pro's Guide

I've taught tennis for more than 20 years, and over the last few I've watched a lot of my students add pickleball. Most of them love it. But after their first few weeks of open play, the question I get more than any other isn't about the elbow or the knees. It's "Why does my lower back hurt so much after pickleball?"

The good news is that it's usually not the sport. It's how people stand, bend and twist while they play it, and how many hours they pile on before their body is ready. Here's what I see on court and what I tell my players to change.

Why pickleball is hard on the lower back

Pickleball looks gentle, and in some ways it is. But it asks your back to do a few things over and over:

Hours in a crouch at the kitchen line. Good dinking means staying low. Most people get low by bending at the waist instead of the knees, and then they hold that position for game after game.
Reaching for low balls. A dink that dies at your feet invites you to fold over and scoop it. Do that 200 times in a morning and the muscles along your spine are worn out.
Twisting with your feet stuck. On drives and quick hands battles, a lot of players swing with their arms and twist through the lower back while their feet stay planted.
Picking up balls. Nobody thinks about it, but you bend over to pick up a ball dozens of times a session, usually with straight legs.
Long open-play sessions. Two or three hours of rotating in and out is common. Add slumping on a bench between games and a drive home, and your back never gets a break.

Where it usually hurts

Most of my players describe one of three things. A dull, tight ache across the low back on both sides, usually from too much bending at the waist. A sore spot on one side, often the side opposite your paddle hand, from twisting on drives. Or tightness between the shoulder blades from hunching forward at the kitchen with the paddle up. All three are the muscles telling you they've done more than they're used to.

Six fixes I give my students

1. Hinge at the hips, not the waist

Your ready position should feel like you're about to sit on a tall barstool. Knees bent, hips back, chest up, weight on the balls of your feet. If someone took a photo from the side, your back should be fairly straight and angled forward, not rounded like a question mark. I tell players to keep their logo, or the front of their shirt, facing the net.

2. Dink with your legs

When the ball is low, lower yourself with your knees and let the paddle face do the work. A good dink is a small, quiet motion. If your head is dropping toward your knees on every dink, you're bending from your back. Practice ten minutes of dinking where your only goal is to stay tall through the chest.

3. Turn your hips and shoulders together

On drives and overheads, let your back foot pivot so your hips can turn with your shoulders. The twist should come from the ground up, not from the middle of your spine. This is the same thing I teach tennis players on forehands, and it takes a lot of strain off the low back.

4. Pick up balls the smart way

Squat down, or use the golfer's pickup: hold the fence or your paddle for balance, lift one leg straight back behind you and keep your back flat as you reach down. Better yet, get a ball retriever tube. It sounds silly until you count how many balls you pick up in a week.

5. Cap your sessions while you build up

If you're new or coming back from a break, stop at about 90 minutes and add time over a few weeks. Between games, stand, walk around or stretch instead of sinking into a low bench. The players who get the sorest are almost always the ones who went from zero to four mornings a week.

6. Build a stronger middle

Ten minutes, three days a week, makes a real difference. My go-tos are bird dogs, glute bridges, side planks and dead bugs, two or three sets each, done slowly. Strong glutes and hips do the work your back has been doing. A physical therapist can set you up with a version that fits you.

A 5-minute warm-up before you play

Most players walk onto the court, hit three dinks and start a game. Try this instead:

Walk briskly around the courts for a minute.
Hip circles, ten each way.
Leg swings, front to back and side to side, ten each leg, holding the fence.
Standing cat-cow: hands on your thighs, round your back, then arch gently. Eight slow reps.
Ten bodyweight squats to wake up the legs.
Easy trunk rotations with your arms crossed, then a couple of minutes of soft dinking.

After you play

Before you get in the car, take five minutes. Walk a lap, then do a knee-to-chest stretch on each side, a figure-four stretch for the hips, and a gentle child's pose if you can get down on a mat or the grass. Drink some water. If you've got a long drive, stop halfway and stand up for a minute. The next morning, if you're stiff, take a warm shower and move around gently. Staying in bed or on the couch usually makes it worse.

Where a pain relief cream fits in

A topical pain reliever is for the temporary relief of minor aches and pains of muscles and joints associated with simple backache, arthritis, strains, bruises and sprains. It won't fix how you stand at the kitchen, but it makes the ache easier to live with while you fix it.

We make Active 10 with menthol, capsaicin and magnesium. It goes on cool, then warms, and it rubs in without a greasy feel. For the lower back, a lot of my players like the 3 oz roll-on because you can reach your own back without getting cream on your hands, and it fits in a paddle bag. The 4 oz tube is good at home, especially if someone else is rubbing it in for you. I wrote more about choosing between them in roll-on vs cream for back and shoulder aches.

Follow the Drug Facts label. Don't use it on broken or irritated skin, don't wrap the area tightly, don't use it with a heating pad, and keep it away from your eyes.

When to stop and get it checked

Normal soreness is a dull ache that loosens up as you move and fades in a day or two. Stop playing and see a doctor or physical therapist if:

pain runs down your leg, or you have numbness, tingling or weakness in a leg or foot;
it started with a fall or a sudden sharp pain on one movement;
it wakes you up at night or hurts even when you're lying still;
you notice any change in bladder or bowel control (get help right away);
it isn't better after about a week, or it keeps coming back.

Common questions

Is pickleball bad for your back?

Not on its own. Lots of people with cranky backs play happily for years. What causes trouble is bending at the waist, twisting with planted feet and doing too much too soon. Fix those and most players feel better within a few weeks.

Should I wear a back brace to play?

Some players like the feel of a light support, and that's a personal choice. But a brace doesn't change how you move, so the ache tends to come back. Work on the stance and the strength first, and ask a physical therapist if you think you need support.

Heat or ice after pickleball?

Both are common, and players have their own preference. Many of mine like warmth for a stiff back the next morning. Just don't combine a heating pad with a topical cream like Active 10.

Can I keep playing with a sore back?

If it's ordinary soreness that eases as you warm up, an easier session is usually fine. Play fewer games, focus on staying tall at the kitchen and skip the hard drives for a few days. If it gets worse while you play, stop.

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Darrin Cohen is a tennis pro with more than 20 years of teaching and the founder of Active 10. This page is general information, not medical advice. Read the product label for Drug Facts, directions and warnings before use.