FITNESS & NUTRITION
Eat,
Stretch,
ove
L
BY BARBARA WINTROUB
Whether you play tournament
pickleball or just go to the court to
practice, your diet and stretching are
extremely important to your success
on the court. Time and again, I have
watched players who do not eat or stretch
before or during competition. They get
weaker as the day goes on until they can
hardly raise their arms or move their
feet. Here is some advice to get you
through your next tournament.
So, what do the tournament players
eat? Many of us come equipped with
peanut butter and jelly sandwiches
or chicken sandwiches sectioned into
bite‑sized pieces. Every 45 minutes we
eat a section of those sandwiches.
What do tournament players eat? They
eat foods that keep their blood sugar even
and energy high enough to stay in the
competition. Some amateurs try burgers
or candy bars to fill their stomachs.
Hamburgers or hot dogs will ultimately
make them lethargic. Candy bars and
other high‑sugar foods make their blood
sugar peak – only to crash soon after.
Sometimes afternoon play is difficult for
those who have eaten poorly or not at all.
Eating small bites continuously all day
54
helps you to finish strong at the end of
play.
Stretching. Stretching before and after
you play is very important. It’s easy to
pull muscles when you don’t warm up
and easy for muscles to tighten when
you don’t stretch during your cool‑down
phase.
Doing simple stretches like marching
in place and side stepping down and
back on the baseline while you swing the
paddle forehand and backhand helps to
warm your muscles up before you play.
After you have played, doing your slow
hamstring and hip muscle stretches are
key to your flexibility and mobility for
future play.
Let’s face it, many players just do
not stretch because it’s not fun and it’s
painful. No one likes to stretch until it
becomes too late. Pain becomes a factor
after years of not stretching. All of a
sudden body parts begin to ache and then
they don’t work right. Then they hurt all
the time. Eventually, dealing with those
issues is inevitable. I highly suggest
safety in numbers. Find a beginning yoga
class, a stretch class, or find a stretch
specialist to help out. Pickleball is rough
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on the body, so you need to incorporate
stretching into your repertoire.
For the love of pickleball, you need to
focus on your health. Walking onto the
court with out proper diet and stretching
will only lead to long-term problems.
The body can only take so much before
issues get in the way of playing well. Eat
and stretch like the pickleball athlete you
want to become, not like the one you are
now. Take your health seriously or you
might be plagued with injuries or lack of
energy on the pickleball court.
Striving to be better or the best
requires work on your part so don’t let
yourself down. Keep up the good work
and thrive. •
Playing pickleball for
nine years, Barbara
Wintroub is a ranked
player, winning medals in
Huntsman, the National
Senior Games, the State
Games and The National
Championships. She
organized and runs a
3.0/3.5/4.0 intra-club
event in Palm Desert,
CA, every winter where
13 pickleball facilities compete against each
other. Barbara is a USAPA Ambassador helping to
start pickleball at 10 desert facilities.