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Healthy Habits for Seniors, Part 2

How Pickleball Can Help Both Physical and Mental Health

 

We are witnessing the explosion of pickleball in Arlington County and Fairfax County for older adults. Pickleball is nothing new, it has been around long before the pandemic. It is taking off now with more and more older adults utilizing the sport as a means to stay active and stay connected in their community. I have been to several courts in the area in the last month and seen the competitiveness, the laughing and the resurgence this sport is bringing to the senior community. Local county governments are encouraging the sport because they see how it can encourage healthy habits for seniors.  I have two super reasons why your parents should be playing pickleball and both are key to helping them stay happy and independent longer.


Pickleball, A Great Physical Activity

I found myself in Alexandria watching an organized group of pickleball late one evening.  I was completely immersed, it was a pick-up style game format and there was no paperwork or white board, but it was extremely well organized with everyone knowing who was rotating in next to play.  Everyone was laughing, smiling, sweating and talking about the game they just had.  Two ladies had just played together in a game when one said to the other that she just wanted to get good enough to hang with the rest of them.  If you were just listening with your eyes closed, you would have never known that these were all older adults, with a few younger adults sprinkled in there, who were all retired but definitely not tired.  I could feel the energy in the air and even though it was my first time at this court, they all welcomed me.  This is a great way to encourage healthy habits for seniors, that was evident to me.  The best way to describe pickleball to someone who has never seen it before is that it is like a smaller version of tennis.  There are a few rules to get and you play typically two on two, so you have a team member and they tend to rotate your team member each game.  It is definitely a great activity that gets you up and active, I would highly recommend it for everyone's parents.

 

How Pickleball Helps Mental Health

I attended a weekday morning game in Arlington County following my evening game in Alexandria.  They start early, 7am, and go the entire morning.  This group was organized with the help of Arlington County and was spread out over multiple courts.  I found myself watching two younger adults, in fact one was a teenager and they were playing against two older adults.  Now you would think the obvious advantage would go to the younger team, not the case.  The younger team landed up losing, but everyone had fun and it did not seem to matter.  They were all laughing and interacting at the end of the game, sharing stories and clearly, they had come to know each other as they referred to each other by name.  Between games they talk and during games between each point they are talking.  It is a great healthy habit for seniors to be out and around others, interacting and having fun.  We know that depression sets in for older adults because of isolation, well pickleball fights isolation because you are around your peers and some younger that do not mind getting beat by someone twice their age.  It is all fun and while the physical activity impressed me, it was what I was watching for their mental health that impressed me the most.

  

If you are in Arlington County, you can find out about pickleball games and activities here.  Both Fairfax County 55+ programs and Arlington County 55+ programs will be holding space for indoor pickleball during the upcoming cold months, find info on Fairfax County here. It is a great way to encourage healthy habits for seniors, so make sure to talk with your parents about it.  Pickleball is a great way to socialize and exercise that does not require you to be in professional athlete shape.  Tell your parents to give it a try, you will not regret it.

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