Healthy Minute: 'Pickleball: Easy To Start, Hard To Stop'

Good health, like money, isn’t everything but it sure helps when you have it. Many believe achieving and maintaining the former relates to the following four admonitions:

• Don’t abuse drugs or alcohol
• Don’t smoke
• Eat nutritious food
• Exercise

Now days addressing the first three requires expertise beyond the application of common sense. So, this article is confined to a brief discussion of exercise, which is more straightforward but equally as important for good health.

Health professionals agree that exercise promotes well-being both mentally and physically.

Exercise can be as simple as taking a walk, riding a bike, even performing chores around the house. One can also jog on a treadmill if not bothered by the boredom of it, but I’ve always enjoyed the more complex and intense exercise found in racquetball and tennis. Unfortunately, these activities place a lot of stress on the joints and muscles especially at my age of 77. Fortunately, I’ve been able to transition to a sport that mitigates the bodily stresses but fulfills the need for physical and competitive exercise. It’s called Pickleball.

Pickleball is one of the fastest growing sport in America. It’s unique, but does have many of the elements of tennis, table tennis, racquetball, and badminton. It is easy to learn and can be enjoyed by all ages and skill levels. The equipment is inexpensive, all you need is a Pickleball paddle, tennis shoes, and standard exercise sweats. Some of the benefits you may gain from learning and participating in Pickleball are:

• Great exercise
• You can play at a level you’re comfortable with
• Fun, you’ll laugh a lot
• Develop hand-eye coordination
• Socialize with nice people
• Satisfy a desire for competition, there are many tournaments available
• Good complement to a dieting plan

Once involved, you will probably be able to add to this list. A simple Google or YouTube search will give you a complete view and description of the game. As with any exercise, you have to get off the rusty dusty and go for it. I am pretty certain you will be glad you did.

Submitted by: John Hunt

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