Fit Pickleball: Avoiding back pain while dinking

Are you a dinker? Try these stretches to help avoid painful back pain.

Fit Pickleball by Barbara Wintroub

My pickleball park players are now getting into dinking; boy can it hard on your back.  Either you bend over at the waist (wrong technique) or you squat from your hips (correct technique); both positions are tough and exhausting on your body – especially if you have weak buns and tight hips.

I’m sure everyone has heard of the psoas (Iliopsoas) muscle by now, but take a good look at it.  The main muscle attaches from your vertebrae and your disks to the femur bones  This muscle pulls the bones too deep into your leg sockets and it also pulls on your back. When you squat or bend to dink or go for a low shot these muscles tighten and shorten.  Then you stand up and they lengthen somewhat but never enough.  When your back begins to hurt, what do you do: Sit Down.  This can be the worst thing you can do because the psoas locks down and doesn’t release.

Keep standing and move your hips around like you are doing the hula hoop.  Then do the exercises below.  In the colder weather warm up well before you play. Save your back and your dink by stretching.

Lunge Stretch with side over *Hold for count of ten; repeat on each side	Standing Lunge Stretch *Hold count of 20; repeat each side