S10 Episode 03: Why Players Love Pickleball â€“ A Healthy Sport

Friday, June 28, 2019

Physical therapist Mary Rachford and occupational therapist Dina Kartsonas explain health benefits of pickleball and why they enjoy playing.

Mary Rachford, PT - owner of Fyzical Therapy & Balance Centers Naperville

Dina Kartsonas, OTR/L - owner of Fyzical Therapy & Balance Centers Naperville

This episode is part of Series 10: Pickleball in the Parks. For a list of ParkTalk episodes and series and to submit ideas and questions, visit https://www.napervilleparks.org/PODCASTS

Quotes from the episode:

"The sport for me covers so many wonderful things. You're looking at cardiovascular fitness and brain health; agility, hand-eye-coordination and balance--all the stuff that is really important as we age. And the socializing with other players is another draw to the sport. In fact, they are saying that pickleball is one of the latest up and coming anti-aging sports. And I have to agree." - Dina

"Pickleball is played on a smaller court than tennis, but it's a quicker game and definitely a cardiovascular workout. For me, I thought it would be easy to play without a warmup: big mistake! To prevent muscle soreness, I recommend wearing court shoes (not running shoes) and compression socks and doing both an active warmup before going out on the court and stretching after you play." -Mary

You can find the pickleball warmup exercises and stretches that Mary and Dina have posted on their website at www.napervillept.com.