A Baylor College of Medicine orthopedic surgeon shared advice on Mar. 12 about how to prevent injuries while playing ping pong, a sport that can be more physically demanding than many realize. Dr. Adil Ahmed, assistant professor in the Joseph Barnhart Department of Orthopedic Surgery, discussed common injuries and emphasized the importance of proper warm-up and form.
Ping pong is often seen as a casual activity, but it can involve intense physical movement, especially at higher levels of play. "The level of play dictates a lot. More amateur players will be using hands, wrists and shoulders more, whereas high-level players are hitting harder and faster and standing further back so they have a lot more movement, kind of like an actual small tennis match," Ahmed said.
Ahmed recommended that all players warm up before matches with basic stretching for legs, hamstrings, glutes, and quads. He suggested dynamic stretching such as light jogging or lateral shuttles for the first 20 to 30 minutes to prepare muscles for quick movements required during play. "If you don’t warm up, those sudden, explosive movements are common modes of injury regardless of the sport," Ahmed said. He added that warming up should increase heart rate: "It does fatigue you and you should be sweating. Stretching and warming up should not be a very relaxed activity. It needs to up your heart rate a little, and that’s how you’re going to get warm."
While ping pong is not considered a contact sport, injuries can occur from overuse or forceful wrist movements. Players with preexisting arthritis may experience pain from gripping the paddle tightly or making rapid motions at different angles. Stretching wrists, fingers, and forearms is important because most muscles involved originate in the forearms.
Ahmed also compared injuries in ping pong with those in tennis: "It’s a very fast, aggressive movement, so if your form is not good, you can have bicep tendon injuries, rotator cuff injuries and labral injuries because you’re using those big muscles and hitting hard to get that serve speed up, whereas in ping pong, you’re not doing huge swings and huge motion." Shoulder girdle injuries are less likely in ping pong; instead elbow strains may occur due to efforts to generate spin on the ball.
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Whether playing recreationally or competitively, Ahmed advised all participants to stretch thoroughly before matches: "Whether you play a friendly or competitive ping pong match, remember to stretch and warm up to prevent injuries as you would for any other sport."
