Measuring Neuromuscular Fatigue After Singles Pickleball Tournament Play

Previously, we found no evidence of neuromuscular fatigue from casual doubles pickleball matches and a nine-game doubles tournament. Therefore, doubles pickleball play may not be fatiguing enough to decrease jump performance. Singles pickleball matches may be more fatiguing than doubles play, because players must cover the court without a partner. PURPOSE: To determine if singles pickleball play induces neuromuscular fatigue. METHODS: We included healthy adult pickleball players with no lower body injuries within the previous 6 weeks. We used a countermovement jump (CMJ) test on dual force plates to assess changes in neuromuscular power. Participants performed a set of warm up CMJ: two jumps at 50% maximal perceived effort and two at 75% maximal perceived effort. Participants then performed four CMJs at maximal effort. After pre-tournament testing, participants played three rounds of five 8-minute matches, with 20-minute breaks between rounds, and 5-minute breaks between matches within a round. After the tournament, participants then completed the CMJ test again in identical fashion as before. Data were analyzed using RM-ANOVA and partial ƞ2 for effect sizes in SPSS v 29. RESULTS: There were six participants, five male and one female, ages 25-52 years old. Participants’ jump height, peak propulsive power, peak relative propulsive power all significantly increased from pre-tournament to post-tournament (Table 1). Even though changes in bodyweight and peak relative propulsive force did not reach statistical significance, the effect sizes were still large. CONCLUSION: On average, there was no evidence of fatigue in the CMJ test performance after playing a 15-game singles pickleball tournament. Instead, we saw an improvement in jump performance after singles tournament play. Table 1: - CMJ Results Pre-tournament vs. Post-tournament Measure Pre-tournament average: Mean (SD) Post-tournament average: Mean (SD) Significance Effect Size Jump Height (cm) 27.3 (± 0.6) 29.1 (± 0.5) (p = 0.041) Large: (η² = 0.598) Bodyweight (kg) 93.5 (± 19.6) 92.6 (± 19.9) (p = 0.158) Large: (η² = 0.355) Peak Propulsive Power (W) 3576.4 (± 871.3) 3779.1 (± 924.0) (p = 0.048) Large: (η² = 0.576) Peak Relative Propulsive Power (W/kg) 41.6 (± 5.9) 44.3 (± 4.7) (p = 0.011) Large: (η² = 0.755) Peak Propulsive Force (N) 1813.8 (± 401.2) 1827.7 (± 411.4) (p = 0.675) Small: (η² = 0.038) Peak Relative Propulsive Force (N/kg) 214.8 (± 9.8) 218.9 (± 10.3) (p = 0.158) Large: (η² = 0.297) Supported by: CSUMB Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity Competition Grant (#835)