Originally published at: Pickleball players make healthcare in the United States worse | Boing Boing
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“Earnings went down because people use their knees too much” seems like a problem that originates in capitalism, not the people who enjoy having knees. This headline is… sociopathic? Yeah, I think that’s the word.
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The players I know of are all 45 or older, so the injury logic jives with me.
Same here. It’s very popular with senior citizens, at least until they get injured.
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I know a few seniors who are playing pickleball and it’s the first exercise they’re getting in years. No doubt these orthopedic injuries are real, but there’s likely some longer term benefit that’s not cooked into the stats just yet. Even a small amount of exercise can make a big difference in health outcomes.
(We’re within a few hundred yards of our community center which has – for years – had a very nice outdoor roller hockey / sport court – that was almost always empty. Since about early 2021, as COVID lightened up, they opened up for pickleball – and we can hear folks at it most nights).
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The intention is good, but from what I’ve seen some of them get a little too intense and competitive and either injure themselves or goad others into hurting themselves. Our bodies just can’t take the same stresses they used t as we age.
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My boy does tennis at courts at public parks. There has always been competition for the use of the courts, and now it’s even more so now that picklers are showing up. Less space for tennis to make room for this new crowd.
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Fair point. Probably a lot of these guys were more active when they were young and figure that now there’s a sport that tracks senior reaction times, they forget to scale their competitiveness! I’ll show these whippersnappers!
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This article has some big “GET OFF MY LAWN!” Energy going for it.
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Um, I believe the politically correct title for the performers of the sport is “pickleballers”, rather than “pickleball players”. 
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The players I know of are all 45 or older, so the injury logic jives with me.
jibes: something sounds correct
jive: something that sounds incorrect
Call me a jibe turkey, I don’t mind 
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Despite living in Seattle near to where pickleball was created, I don’t think I had heard of it until its recent resurgence. I’ve seen tennis courts taken over by skate parks and dodge ball, but haven’t seen it happen with pickleball yet. I suppose that could just be that parks I visit are in areas that skew more towards younger folks.
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“Ball Picklers.”
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The solution to this is to build more courts. Which will eventually happen if this turns out to be more than just a fad…at least in those areas that are still willing to invest in public infrastructure.
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I realize this is probably a volume-of-players issue but I’d expect more frequent and severe injuries from old folks like me playing good old-fashioned racquetball. I think I can still feel that racquet swung into my kidney many years ago …
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I seem to recall the same thing happening when tennis became a big thing back in the Billie Jean King/John McEnroe days. Know a lot of people with tennis elbow, torn achilles tendon and popped ACLs.
I think it’s also when ‘Sports Medicine’ came into being or at least visible to the normal person with sports injury clinics popping up all over.
This isn’t something new for insurance companies, they’ve dealt with it before. They’re just griping more because they’re being run more and more by private equity groups.
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Obviously, you have not been educated on how this works. Quarterly profits are absolutely all that matter. Yes, if they keep exercising, they will unquestionably be healthier later, but the injuries are costing money now. Therefore, we must cry “Crisis” let slip the dogs of propaganda to stop this threat to the shareholders’ dividends! (not really being sarcastic, just so y’all know that)
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I feel like an insurance company faulting people for using their health insurance and a lack of public parks are the real problems here. Not pickleball.
I say if we have an older population that wants to get healthy and be more active then we should support that. This insurance company speculating that pickleball (not greed or mismanagement) is driving up health costs and limiting access is insane and is not looking at the bigger picture.
I’m not the biggest fan of pickleball but this article is kinda trash. I’m a little disappointed in boing boing for posting this.
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not like i’ve played it, but it sure sounds like somebody has an axe to grind against pickleball players, and possibly also some ageism in the mix, too.
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I hear that, if you can dodge a spanner, you can dodge a pickle.
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My village just announced that an empty Dania furniture store is going to be turned into a sports center with a focus on pickleball courts. They also plan on having space for other kinds of activities and events. While not public infrastructure, I still hope it is successful as the store has been empty for several years
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