New To Pickleball? Why Starting in the Pool Can Help You Play Better!

Like preparing all the ingredients in prep for cooking a great meal it is important to take care of a handful of preparatory measures prior to stepping onto the pickleball court. When it comes to the ingredients of safe and fun pickleball play,  upright balance, flexibility, and power it’s just easier starting in the pool. 

In waist deep water you lose half of your body weight and at chest deep you lose about 70% and these factors allow you to get into positions and stretch and perform little power movements that would be difficult or impossible on land, at least in the beginning. 

Think about crawling before you walk and walking before you run. 

You can start with just moving in the water and taking your joints through greater ranges of motion. You can hold onto the side of the pool with one hand and stand on one leg while grabbing onto your opposite foot and pulling it behind your body to feel a nice stretch in the front of your hip. Not only does it feel good but it lets you see where the restrictions and problem areas are. You can be in the middle of the pool, reach down and bring one foot and leg up into figure 4 type position on one side without worrying about falling and getting hurt all while balancing on your other leg. 

You can put some headphones in or just listen to a Bluetooth speaker and start dancing and jumping around without getting hurt. In an introductory way, you are putting some pep in your step and getting your muscles and tendons familiar with the power elements of pickleball play. 

Throw in some swim strokes and dance a little more and this will get your cardiovascular system primed and your base level of aerobic fitness on a good trajectory. 

If you haven’t participated in fast paced, stop and go type physical activity before, starting in the pool helps you avoid the “too much to soon” path and can keep you in the mindset of slow and steady progressions to “full on” play mode!

*Try to dedicate about 2 weeks to these initiatives prior to transitioning to land based preparatory exercise and activity and perhaps longer if you are aged or less physically fit to begin with.