Source: Ron Alvey/Adobe Stock
If you haven’t played it yet, you certainly know someone who has! Pickleball, the paddle sport that combines elements of ping pong, badminton, and tennis, has taken the U.S. by storm.
For the third year in a row, pickleball was the fastest-growing sport in the U.S., according to the 2023 Sports and Fitness Industry Association’s Topline Participation Survey. The national survey found that 36.5 million people had played pickleball at least once in the past year – a more than 50 percent increase compared to 2022.
While many players see pickleball as a fun way to increase their physical activity levels, research shows it likely has other benefits. A growing body of evidence finds that racquet sports help extend life expectancy, even more than other forms of physical activity.
One study, published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine in 2016, tracked more than 80,000 adults over nine years to compare the benefits of various sports. Researchers found those who regularly played racquet sports reduced their risk of death by 47 percent compared to those who were inactive. (Swimming ranked a distant second, reducing the risk of death by nearly 28 percent.) Specifically, playing a racquet sport reduced the risk of dying from heart disease, such as heart attack or stroke, by 56 percent. (This compared to a 41 percent reduction in death from heart disease for swimmers and a 36 percent reduction for those who participated in other forms of exercise.)
A second study published in 2018 by the Mayo Clinic, which followed more than 8,500 people for up to 25 years, supports these findings. Participants who played tennis extended their life by 9.7 years compared with those who were inactive, and people who played badminton extended their life by 6.2 years; these were the two highest-ranking activities for extending life expectancy. (Other sports also improved life expectancy over sedentary behavior: 4.7 years for soccer; 3.7 years for cycling; 3.4 years for swimming; and 3.2 years for jogging.)
A third study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association surveyed more than 270,000 older adults to ask about their health and leisure activities and then followed them for several years. They found participants who achieved the recommended amount of any physical activity – 2.5 to 5 hours of moderate-intensity or 1.25 to 2.5 hours of vigorous-intensity exercise per week – lowered their risk of dying by 13 percent compared with those who did not exercise at all. But when they looked at different activities, racquet sports were the most impactful, reducing the risk of dying by 16 percent.
The evidence clearly shows that racquet sports have an edge over other forms of physical activity. But why?
Though the available studies did not collect the data to answer these questions, researchers have some hypotheses. First, racquet sports engage the entire body, requiring endurance, flexibility, agility, coordination, and bursts of speed. They promote good balance and general mobility. In essence, playing a racquet sport is truly a full-body workout.
Second, racquet sports challenge the brain. Hand-eye coordination is required to hit the ball and there is a level of strategy – such as anticipating where your opponent’s shot will land and positioning yourself to hit it – that may boost mental health.
Finally, racquet sports require an opponent – you can’t hit the ball back to yourself – which means they involve social interaction. The research literature on aging shows that social connections alone have benefits that extend life expectancy.
The take-home message is clear: Racquet sports are good for you! And you don’t have to be a skilled player to reap the benefits. To extend your life expectancy, grab a ball and a paddle, head to your nearest court, and get swinging.
