Apple Watch used in a pickleball vs tennis health study

Pickleball, despite what one might think of its name, is the fastest growing sport in the United States over the past two years. No, it does not contain any marinated ingredients, quite the contrary: it requires physical activity and is a way to burn calories.

Now a study update from the Apple Heart and Movement Study (AHMS) compares the effects of the emerging sport of pickleball and the well-known sport of tennis using participant data (via 9to5Mac).

After analyzing more than 250,000 pickleball and tennis workouts recorded on Apple Watch by study participants, researchers concluded that pickleball workouts lasted slightly longer than tennis workouts. On average, a pickleball practice usually lasts 90 minutes compared to 81 minutes of tennis, respectively.

To assess the intensity of each type of workout, the researchers analyzed heart rate data. The average maximum heart rate was nine beats per minute faster during tennis workouts, which averaged 152 beats per minute, compared to 143 beats per minute in pickleball.

Heart rate zones are another way to assess physical exertion. While both sports showed similar trends in time spent in each heart rate zone, on average, tennis workouts lasted nine percentage points longer in higher intensity heart rate zones than pickleball workouts. .

What exactly is pickleball?

It may be the fastest-growing sport in the United States over the past two years, but with everything that’s happened, it might have gone unnoticed. Pickleball is a recreational racket sport that mixes three well-known things: tennis, table tennis (ping pong), and badminton. It can be played 1v1, or in pairs for a total of four players.

It can be played indoors or outdoors using rackets and a hollow perforated ball on a court with a net in the middle – significantly smaller than a tennis court. The goal is to pass the ball over the net and score points.