Pickleball vs. Tennis: Same Vibe, Different Game—What You Should Know Before You Swing

What’s that sharp pop-pop-pop echoing across the courts? It’s not mini tennis—it’s pickleball, and it’s booming. As the fastest-growing sport in America, pickleball has stirred up some friendly rivalry with tennis, especially as it replaces traditional courts and draws in players of all ages. While the two sports might look similar at first glance, they demand different movements, skills, and—yes—pose different risks to your body. Whether you're a seasoned tennis player or a pickleball newcomer, understanding how each sport affects your joints, muscles, and movement patterns is key to staying healthy and competitive. Let's break down what sets them apart—and how to protect yourself before the next match.

🎾 Court Size & Layout

• Tennis Court: A standard tennis court is 78 feet long and 27 feet wide for singles, and 36 feet wide for doubles.

• Pickleball Court: Much smaller—44 feet long and 20 feet wide for both singles and doubles. That’s nearly 1/4 the size of a tennis court, which is why you’ll often see four pickleball courts fit into one tennis court space.

👉 Impact: The smaller court means less running, making pickleball more accessible to beginners or older athletes, but also places more emphasis on quick reaction time and agility at the net. The larger tennis court requires more running, and emphasis on a powerful first step to move in the direction of the ball. With the larger court coverage, tennis players are often humbled with an out-of-reach shot from their opponent meaning they may avoid frequent sprints to save energy.

🛠 Equipment

• Tennis: Players use a strung racket (typically 27 inches long) and a pressurized felt ball that bounces high and fast.

• Pickleball: Uses a solid paddle (shorter, around 15-17 inches) and a plastic perforated ball (like a Wiffle ball) that’s lighter and doesn’t bounce as much.

👉 Impact: The lighter paddle and ball in pickleball technically create less strain on the shoulder and elbow, but require faster hand-eye coordination in close quarters which may injure the shoulder with rapid repetitive reaching. The low-bouncing ball means that pickleball players will need to bend lower to reach for shots. The longer and heavier racket and ball in tennis require good footwork for spacing to contact the ball in front and to the side of the body and require good use of the kinetic chain to create power from the core and hips.

📏 Rules & Gameplay

• Tennis: Scoring follows the classic 15-30-40-game system. Serves can be overhand or underhand, and volleys are allowed anywhere on the court.

• Pickleball: Has its own 0-1-2 scoring system, and you can only score on your serve. Serves must be underhand at waist level or below. There’s also the "kitchen" rule—a non-volley zone close to the net where you can't hit volleys.

👉 Impact: Pickleball’s rules reward strategy, placement, and finesse over raw power, especially with the no-volley zone (aka the “kitchen”) that forces players to be more tactical near the net. The quicker scoring system allows less recovery time between points and matches. Tennis will reward consistency and power at the lower level, then it will reward strategy, placement, and finesse at the higher level once a player can effectively reproduce offensive and defensive shots. Tennis will expend more energy to keep the rally in play with a more diverse range of shots compared to pickleball.

🦵 Injury Rates & Common Risks

• Tennis Injuries: Common injuries include rotator cuff tendinitis, elbow tendinitis, and lower back pain, often due to repetitive overhead serves and powerful groundstrokes involving much more hip and torso rotation. Tennis also involves longer sprints and lateral movements, which can stress the knees and ankles.

• Pickleball Injuries: Common injuries include Achilles tendon ruptures, hamstring strains, and rotator cuff tendinitis. Falls and wrist fractures occur with the older population. Pickleball involves repetitive short forward sprints and aggressive deceleration to avoid the kitchen that can put more strain on the Achilles tendon and hamstrings.

👉 Impact: Despite its reputation as a “safer” sport, pickleball has seen a rise in injury rates, especially among older adults. Injuries occur in those whose mind is more competitive and athletic than their body. For both pickleball and tennis, proper warm-up, technique, and outside conditioning are essential to avoid sidelining yourself.

✅ Injury Prevention Tips for Both Sports

Whether you're smashing forehands or dinking in the kitchen, a few smart habits can go a long way in keeping you pain-free and competitive.

1. Warm Up Like You Mean It

• 5 minutes of dynamic stretching: leg swings, arm circles, torso twists.

• 5 minutes of light cardio (jump rope, jogging, side shuffles)

• 5 minutes of stabilizing muscle activation (bands for rows and rotator cuff, lunges in different directions)

2. Train for the Game You Play

• Tennis: Focus on core strength, shoulder mobility and stability, hip mobility and stability, and tennis specific footwork and endurance (lateral movements, multidirectional push-offs for power in the first step, running.)

• Pickleball: Emphasize endurance for squatting and reaching, balance, and pickleball specific footwork (forward sprint, deceleration, lateral shuffles).

3. Strengthen Key Muscles

• Prioritize core, glutes, and rotator cuff muscles to prevent common overuse injuries.

• Add eccentric training (e.g., slow lowering or "negative" exercises) for tendon strengthening for Achilles, knees, shoulders, and elbows.

4. Check Your Footwear

• Wear sport-specific court shoes with lateral support and grippy soles. Pickleball and tennis shoes are the same so don't let marketing fool you.

5. Recover Smarter

• Stretch and ice after play.

• Eat and hydrate well

• Get good sleep.

• Don’t ignore soreness or nagging pain—early care can prevent longer time off the court.

6. Work with a Specialist

• If you're switching sports or feeling new aches, a sports and orthopedic physical therapist can identify movement inefficiencies, assess joint and muscle impairments, and treat and tailor exercises to your body and goals.

Final Thoughts

Pickleball and tennis may look like cousins, but they play like entirely different sports. Whether you’re switching from one to the other or playing both, understanding the distinct demands of each can keep you sharp—and injury-free—on the court.