RAD PICKLEBALL RECOVERY GUIDE
Pickleball Recovery Guide: Playing More Pickleball? Give Your Body Five Minutes.
From the World Pickleball Podcast RAD founder Michael Mallory on pressure, movement and building a daily recovery habit
Pickleball players are remarkably good at finding time for another game.
Another open-play session. One more invitation. An extra round because four new players just arrived.
What is harder to find is time for the body doing all that reaching, rotating, gripping, stopping and changing direction.
RAD founder Michael Mallory recently joined the World Pickleball Podcast to discuss why many players may be approaching mobility and recovery with the wrong objective.
His message was not that every player needs an elaborate recovery program. It was much simpler:
Give your body a little attention every day. Start with five minutes.
Here are four ways to begin, and the RAD tools that can help you put them into practice.
Listen to the full conversation
Michael Mallory on the World Pickleball Podcast
1. Do Not Let Your First Game Be Your Warm-Up
A few casual practice shots may warm up your paddle. They do not necessarily prepare your body for everything pickleball is about to ask it to do.
Within the first several points, you may already be reaching, rotating, accelerating and stopping.
Before playing, spend a few minutes creating comfortable movement through the areas involved in your game, without tiring your body before the first serve.
Try this before playing
Prepare your upper body for movement
- Apply comfortable pressure around the upper back.
- Continue breathing normally.
- Add gentle reaching and rotation.
- Finish with active movements that resemble how you will move on the court.
The tool
RAD Roller Medium
Applies focused pressure around the upper back and surrounding muscles. Its connected dual-ball shape helps work on either side of the spine while you explore comfortable upper-body movement.
Preparation and recovery are not the same job. Hear Mike explain why they may require different approaches in the full conversation.
2. Your Elbow May Not Be the Whole Problem
Pickleball discomfort is usually named after the place where it appears.
Pickleball elbow. A sore shoulder. A cranky knee. A tight lower back.
But where you feel tension may not tell the complete story. Rather than aggressively attacking one irritated spot, begin by giving some attention to the areas around it and noticing how the larger movement feels.
Try this after repeated gripping
Use lighter, moving pressure
- Begin with lighter flushing through the forearm.
- Keep the pressure moving rather than digging into one spot.
- Add comfortable wrist, arm and shoulder movement.
- Stop if the movement increases pain.
The tool
RAD Rod Mini
Provides controlled, moving pressure across the forearms, calves, quads and other frequently worked areas. Its slim shape also makes it easy to keep in a pickleball bag.
The place that hurts may not be the only area influencing the problem. Mike explores this connected-body principle in the complete podcast.
3. Recovery Does Not Need to Hurt to Work
Many people use discomfort as their recovery score.
If it hurts more, they assume it must be doing more.
But recovery should not become another fight with your body. If pressure makes you brace, hold your breath or tense your face, back off. Choose an intensity that allows you to remain comfortable and continue breathing normally.
Try this after playing
Let your body settle
- Start with a softer tool or broader contact area.
- Apply pressure that allows your body to remain relaxed.
- Slow your breathing.
- Add comfortable movement when you are ready.
The tool
RAD Recovery Rounds
Provide a softer, more forgiving option for slower work around the hips, glutes, back, calves and feet.
What can excessive pressure communicate to the nervous system? Mike goes deeper on why the body may resist it in the full interview.
4. Five Minutes Is Enough to Begin
Recovery often becomes an emergency response.
Something feels bad, so we attack it for twenty minutes. Then the tools disappear until the next problem appears.
A more realistic approach is to give your body a few deliberate minutes consistently. You do not need to address everything during every session.
Notice what feels restricted. Choose one area. Use comfortable pressure. Add movement. See how your body responds.
Choose Your Five Minutes
The goal is not to complete a perfect recovery routine. The goal is to build a habit you will actually use.
Mike compares daily recovery to another familiar habit and explains why small, repeated attention can become more valuable than occasional intensity.
Three Tools. Three Different Jobs.
These three RAD tools support different areas and different moments in your pickleball routine.
RAD Roller Medium
Focused pressure for the upper back, shoulders, chest and feet. Use it before playing to support reaching and rotation.
RAD Rod Mini
Controlled flushing for the forearms, calves, quads and other frequently worked areas. Easy to keep in your bag.
Recovery Rounds
Softer pressure for slower work around the hips, glutes, back and feet when your body does not need more intensity.
Each tool gives you a different way to apply pressure based on the area, the moment and the intensity that feels appropriate.
Guided practices in the free RAD Mobility App can also help you understand where to begin and how to use each tool.
Recovery does not need to hurt, and it does not need to take an hour.
Want to understand why?
The Complete Conversation Goes Deeper
Why can harder pressure create more resistance?
Why might your elbow, shoulder or knee not tell the complete movement story?
Why are preparation and recovery not interchangeable?
Why is stretching not always as straightforward as it appears?
Mike explores these questions and more on the World Pickleball Podcast.
Built by an Athlete Who Had to Rebuild His Body
Mike's approach to recovery was not created in a boardroom.
Years of mogul skiing and mountain-bike trials had already left him managing accumulated injuries and chronic back pain. A later crash crushed both legs and began the long process of learning to walk again.
Rebuilding his movement changed the way he thought about recovery. Not as punishment. Not as a competition to tolerate more pressure. As small, deliberate work that helps the body continue moving.
Anatomy first. Pressure with purpose. Movement for the long run.
YOU DO NOT NEED TO BECOME A RECOVERY EXPERT
Start with one area.
Choose Comfortable Pressure.
Add movement.
Give your body 5 minutes.
Then go play.
Explore the Three Recovery Tools
RAD products support mobility, self-massage and recovery routines. They are not intended to diagnose, treat or prevent injuries. Stop any activity that increases pain and consult a qualified healthcare professional when appropriate.
