The Pickleball PT

The Pickleball PT Iโ€™m Dr. Frank Allen - The Pickleball PT! I help pickleballers in Sarasota play better & hurt less. I fell in love with pickleball in 2020.

I have been a practicing doctor of physical therapy and sport-performance specialist since 2013. As The Pickleball PT - I help pickleball players achieve their maximum potential through addressing limitations in strength, mobility, flexibility, balance, coordination, endurance and awareness. I provide injury-risk assessments completely free in an effort to allow pickleball players the option to di

scover if they may be at risk for injury. Please get in touch with me if youโ€™d like to play better and hurt less!

04/19/2023

๐“๐ก๐ž ๐๐ข๐œ๐ค๐ฅ๐ž๐›๐š๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ž๐ซโ€™๐ฌ ๐†๐ฎ๐ข๐๐ž ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐ฅ๐š๐ฒ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐๐ž๐ญ๐ญ๐ž๐ซ & ๐‡๐ฎ๐ซ๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐‹๐ž๐ฌ๐ฌโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃ
โฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃ
๐˜—๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ต ๐Ÿท: ๐Ÿ”ฅ๐˜ˆ๐˜ค๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ท๐˜ฆ ๐˜ž๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฎ-๐˜œ๐˜ฑ๐Ÿ”ฅโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃ
๐˜š๐˜ฆ๐˜ค๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐Ÿบ: ๐˜–๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ฅ ๐˜›๐˜ณ๐˜ถ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฌ ๐˜™๐˜ฐ๐˜ต๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ดโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃ
โฃ
โฃโฃOne of the top reasons I see players for injuries of the shoulders, abdominal tissues or lower back is due to shots requiring an extended reach combined with rotation of their spine. This overhead trunk rotation movement directly prepares the body to perform those movements with greater speed and reduced injury risk. Performing 15-20 reps of this movement improves mobility of the joints through the neck, thoracic spine, lower back, hips and shoulders and it feels REALLY good to do even if youโ€™re not about to play.โฃ
โฃโฃโฃ
I recommend to start off slowly and build up your speed and rotation. The idea is to warm up the joints and tissues responsible for this type of movement in efforts to reduce injury risk and improve performance when you have to move similarly during play or drilling.โฃ
โฃโฃโฃ
Feel free to share, comment with questions or PM me if youโ€™d rather interact in a more private setting. Iโ€™m always happy to help a pickleball player to play better and hurt less!โฃ
โฃ

04/13/2023

๐“๐ก๐ž ๐๐ข๐œ๐ค๐ฅ๐ž๐›๐š๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ž๐ซโ€™๐ฌ ๐†๐ฎ๐ข๐๐ž ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐ฅ๐š๐ฒ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐๐ž๐ญ๐ญ๐ž๐ซ & ๐‡๐ฎ๐ซ๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐‹๐ž๐ฌ๐ฌโฃโฃโฃ: By Dr. Frank Allen - The Pickleball PT
โฃ
๐˜—๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ต ๐Ÿท: ๐Ÿ”ฅ๐˜ˆ๐˜ค๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ท๐˜ฆ ๐˜ž๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฎ-๐˜œ๐˜ฑ๐Ÿ”ฅโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃ
๐˜š๐˜ฆ๐˜ค๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ 2: ๐˜ž๐˜ฉ๐˜บ ๐˜๐˜ด ๐˜๐˜ต ๐˜๐˜ฎ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ต๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ต?โฃโฃโฃ ๐Ÿค”โฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃ
โฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃ
Taking 5-10 minutes before you play for a proper active warm-up will reduce your risk for pickleball-related injuries & improve your performance on the court.โฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃ
โฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃ
๐‡๐จ๐ฐ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ญ ๐ข๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐ฏ๐ž ๐ฉ๐ž๐ซ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ๐ฆ๐š๐ง๐œ๐ž?โฃโฃ ๐Ÿค”โฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃ
โฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃ
1. ๐ˆ๐ง๐œ๐ซ๐ž๐š๐ฌ๐ž๐ ๐๐จ๐๐ฒ ๐“๐ž๐ฆ๐ฉ: Increasing your body temp helps make sure you're ready to go right from 0-0-2. A rise in body temperature enhances explosive muscle performance by improving metabolic & contractile function, nerve conduction & muscle activation.โฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃ
โฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃ
2. ๐ˆ๐ง๐œ๐ซ๐ž๐š๐ฌ๐ž๐ ๐๐ฅ๐จ๐จ๐ ๐…๐ฅ๐จ๐ฐ ๐š๐ง๐ ๐Ž๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ ๐ž๐ง๐š๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง: Your tissues run on blood & nutrients (oxygen included) that it brings to them. Increasing blood flow & oxygenation before play ensures your body will perform at its best & fatigue slower.โฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃ
โฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃ
3. ๐ˆ๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐ฏ๐ž๐ ๐“๐ข๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ž/๐‰๐จ๐ข๐ง๐ญ ๐Œ๐จ๐›๐ข๐ฅ๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ: When joints & soft-tissue are moving better - your body moves much easier & you expend less energy to move. You'll be able to reach shots & react to shots better.โฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃ
โฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃ
4. ๐ˆ๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐ฏ๐ž๐ ๐‚๐จ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ง๐ข๐œ๐š๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐๐ž๐ญ๐ฐ๐ž๐ž๐ง ๐˜๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐๐ซ๐š๐ข๐ง ๐š๐ง๐ ๐“๐ข๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ž๐ฌ: This enhances your coordination & reaction time so you can win those firefights.โฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃ
โฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃ
๐‡๐จ๐ฐ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ญ ๐ซ๐ž๐๐ฎ๐œ๐ž ๐ข๐ง๐ฃ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ฒ ๐ซ๐ข๐ฌ๐ค?โฃโฃโฃ ๐Ÿค”โฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃ
โฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃ
1. ๐ˆ๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐ฏ๐ž๐ ๐“๐ข๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ž/๐‰๐จ๐ข๐ง๐ญ ๐Œ๐จ๐›๐ข๐ฅ๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ: When your tissues & joints are moving better they are less likely to suffer strains/pulls, sprains, tears, etc.โฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃ
โฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃ
2. ๐ˆ๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐ฏ๐ž๐ ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฉ๐ซ๐ข๐จ๐œ๐ž๐ฉ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ž ๐…๐ž๐ž๐๐›๐š๐œ๐ค: This is your body's ability to recognize how it is moving in space. When these proprioceptive mechanisms are stimulated, your movements are much more in line with what you ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ to do & accidents like tripping will be greatly reduced.โฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃ
โฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃ
3. ๐ˆ๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐ฏ๐ž๐ ๐๐จ๐๐ฒ ๐“๐ž๐ฆ๐ฉ & ๐๐ฅ๐จ๐จ๐ ๐…๐ฅ๐จ๐ฐ: Risks associated with cold/tight tissue, insufficient oxygen delivery or lack of endurance is reduced by improving this prior to playing.โฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃ
โฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃโฃ
โฃโฃPlease share with friends & follow my page to see future posts in this content series. Up next are a variety of examples of upper/lower body pickleball active warm-up movements. ๐Ÿ™Œ

04/11/2023

๐“๐ก๐ž ๐๐ข๐œ๐ค๐ฅ๐ž๐›๐š๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ž๐ซ'๐ฌ ๐†๐ฎ๐ข๐๐ž ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐ฅ๐š๐ฒ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐๐ž๐ญ๐ญ๐ž๐ซ & ๐‡๐ฎ๐ซ๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐‹๐ž๐ฌ๐ฌโฃ
โฃ
๐˜—๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ต ๐Ÿท: ๐˜ˆ๐˜ค๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ท๐˜ฆ ๐˜ž๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฎ-๐˜œ๐˜ฑ โฃ
๐˜š๐˜ฆ๐˜ค๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐Ÿท: ๐˜ž๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜๐˜ด ๐˜๐˜ต?โฃ
โฃ
As a doctor of physical therapy who specializes my practice in helping pickleball players avoid injury and perform better -- the TOP piece of advice I can recommend to any player, regardless of skill level, is to take the 5-10 minutes before any training or competition to complete a comprehensive active warm-up.โฃ
โฃ
What is a pickleball active warm-up?

It's performing movements (without a ball in play) that you perform while playing pickleball but at a much lower intensity compared to game speed and at a very high repetition count (20-30 repetitions for each movement). This literally warms the body up for the stresses you are about to place on it and, in doing so, makes your body much more capable of performing these movements without higher risks of injury or limitations associated with stiffness, weakness or lack of control.โฃ If you think it's a silly thing to waste time on then you've never suffered a severe injury that prevented you from playing for weeks to months that could have been prevented by taking the time to warm-up properly.
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Please feel free to share with your pickleball friends and stay tuned for follow-up posts in my new content series "๐“๐ก๐ž ๐๐ข๐œ๐ค๐ฅ๐ž๐›๐š๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ž๐ซ'๐ฌ ๐†๐ฎ๐ข๐๐ž ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐ฅ๐š๐ฒ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐๐ž๐ญ๐ญ๐ž๐ซ & ๐‡๐ฎ๐ซ๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐‹๐ž๐ฌ๐ฌ". I have a ton of content I'll be sharing specific to everything I've used over the last few years to help my clients feel their best and perform at their highest potential from a physical and functional standpoint.

Cheers!

03/30/2023

Thereโ€™s a lot of helpful information that I share personally with my clients in Sarasota that I know would help any pickleball player. Iโ€™ve reconsidered the best way to organize/present this information and I intend to begin recreating and sharing it with all of you soon. This game is much more fun when youโ€™re playing better and hurting less!

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Sarasota, FL
34238

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Monday 6am - 9pm
Tuesday 6am - 9pm
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+19045370301

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