Tennis & Pickleball Injuries: How Spinal Health and Brain Connection Improve Performance"

Pickleball & Tennis players (Don't Fight) in Indianapolis: Learn how repetitive swings, spinal alignment, and neuroplasticity impact your game and prevent injury.

Whether you’re playing for fun or competing in tournaments, tennis and pickleball require quick movements, explosive swings, and precision. Feeling restricted by aches, shoulder tightness, or back strain can ruin your performance. To dominate on the court, your body has to move efficiently and pain-free

What Tennis & Pickleball Injuries Are

Tennis and pickleball involve repetitive overhead and rotational movements that stress the shoulders, elbows, wrists, spine, hips, and knees. Over time, dominant-side swings can lead to muscle imbalances, compensatory movement patterns, and spinal asymmetry, increasing the risk of chronic injuries.

Tennis & pickleball chiropractic care in Indianapolis helps athletes maintain spinal alignment, restore nervous system function, and reinforce optimal movement patterns using principles of neuroplasticity.

Key Structures Involved:

• Spine: Cervical, thoracic, lumbar vertebrae (rotation and extension)

• Shoulders & Upper Body: Rotator cuff, deltoids, scapular stabilizers, forearm flexors/extensors

• Elbows & Wrists: Common sites for lateral or medial epicondylitis (tennis elbow / pickleball elbow)

• Hips & Core: Sacroiliac joints, glutes, obliques, transverse abdominis

• Nervous System: Cervical and thoracic spinal nerves, brachial plexus, proprioceptive pathways

Neurological Implications

• Repetitive dominant-side swings reinforce neural firing patterns, which can become maladaptive if posture or mechanics are poor

• Neuroplasticity allows athletes to retrain the nervous system, improving coordination, timing, and swing symmetry

• Overuse or asymmetry can cause nervous system overload, increasing pain perception and impairing motor control

How It Happens – Tennis & Pickleball Specific Causes

Common Weak or Imbalanced Muscles:

• Opposite-side obliques and multifidus

• Deep cervical flexors (longus colli)

• Scapular stabilizers (rhomboids, lower traps)

• Hip stabilizers (glute medius, glute maximus)

• Rotator cuff muscles

Top Contributing Movements / Injuries:

1. Dominant-side serve, forehand, or backhand repetitions

2. Overhead volleys stressing the shoulder and neck

3. Limited thoracic rotation or lumbar stability

4. Weak core or hip stabilizers causing compensatory movement

5. Lateral or medial epicondylitis (tennis elbow / pickleball elbow)

6. Shoulder impingement or rotator cuff strain

7. Low back or sacroiliac stress from rotational torque

8. Knee or ankle strain from lateral movement and quick changes of direction

Long-Term Risks:

• Chronic shoulder or elbow pain

• Low back strain or thoracic dysfunction

• Sacroiliac or hip joint irritation

• Reinforced asymmetry affecting stroke consistency and power

• Nervous system maladaptation reducing motor control

How Chiropractic Care Can Help

Tennis & pickleball chiropractic care in Indianapolis addresses both structural and neurological aspects:

1. Spinal & Pelvic Alignment: Corrects asymmetry, restores rotation, improves joint mechanics

2. Soft Tissue Release: Reduces tension in obliques, glutes, lats, forearm, and shoulder muscles

3. Enhancing Nervous System Function: Improves proprioception, timing, and coordination for strokes

4. Correcting Compensation Patterns: Re-trains neural firing and optimizes motor patterns

5. Injury Prevention: Supports shoulders, elbows, spine, hips, and knees against repetitive stress

At Electric Life Chiropractic, Our Functional Movement Screening Analysis (FMSA) identifies asymmetries, weak stabilizers, and compensatory patterns from repetitive swings. This allows us to target root causes, improve nervous system coordination, and enhance stroke mechanics.

Rehabilitation & Performance Program

Mobility Exercises

• Thoracic Rotations (both directions): Counteracts repetitive one-side rotation, 10 reps per side

• Cat-Cow & Seated Twists: Spinal mobility

• Shoulder Pendulum & Wall Slides: Maintain shoulder mobility and reduce impingement risk

• Hip Openers / Rotations: 10–15 reps per side

Stability & Strengthening

• Bird Dog & Dead Bug: Core and spinal stabilizers, 10–15 reps

• Glute Bridges & Clamshells: Hip stability, 10–12 reps

• Side Planks / Oblique Activation: Counter repetitive dominant-side rotation, 10–15 reps per side

• Rotator Cuff Band Work: External rotation, 10–12 reps, 2–3 sets

Neuroplasticity & Drill Suggestions

• Warm-up swings alternating dominant and non-dominant sides

• Mirror drills or video analysis to reinforce proper neural firing patterns

• Slow-motion serves and volleys to enhance coordination

• Core and balance drills for neuromuscular control

At-Home Support / Modalities

• Ice or heat for muscle or tendon soreness

• BioFreeze or topical salves for temporary relief

• Foam rolling for lats, obliques, glutes, forearms

• Posture monitoring during swings and daily activities

• Adequate sleep, hydration, and nutrition to support recovery

Recovery Time & Risk

• Mild overuse or asymmetry: 2–4 weeks with rehab

• Moderate strain or tendinitis: 4–8 weeks

• Severe injuries (rotator cuff, disc, surgery required): 3–6 months

• Early intervention with chiropractic care improves neuroplasticity-driven motor learning, reduces chronic pain, and restores performance

Takeaway

Tennis and pickleball players in Indianapolis face unique spinal and musculoskeletal challenges due to repetitive dominant-side swings. Chiropractic care, combined with:

• Targeted mobility and stability exercises

• Neuroplasticity-informed drills

• At-home recovery and posture strategies

…can help athletes correct asymmetry, retrain neural patterns, prevent injury, and enhance stroke performance.

Your spine and nervous system are the foundation for every precise serve, volley, and backhand—train them as much as your swing.

Prevent injuries and improve your court performance. Book a chiropractic consultation in Indianapolis today, including a Functional Movement Screening Analysis (FMSA). We’ll create a personalized plan to restore alignment, strengthen weak muscles, and retrain your nervous system for faster, more powerful swings.