Lack of Neuromuscular Fatigue Due to Recreational Doubles Pickleball

Abstract

Background: The lack of knowledge about physical responses to pickleball creates a clear gap about performance in this sport. The purpose of this study was to investigate neuromuscular fatigue caused by playing doubles pickleball. Methods: Recreational pickleball players (n = 32, mean age = 60.0 years) were recruited to perform sets of four countermovement jumps (CMJs) on a force plate before and after doubles pickleball matches. Results: For players who had not played a match prior to testing, there was a significant learning effect across trials within the baseline set of jumps for five outcomes from the CMJ test, including propulsive peak force (p = 0.005); however, there was no significant learning effect for jump height. There were significant improvements in the large effect size for all except one dependent variable (propulsive phase time) between the first and second set of jumps (i.e., after one match). Neither further increases nor decreases were seen after the second set of jumps. Conclusions: Participants saw significant increases in CMJ performance across trials after one pickleball match, indicating learning and potentiation effects. After three matches of doubles pickleball, no fatigue effect was detected.