Tennis Can Extend Your Life By A Decade, Pickleball Likely Offers Similar Life Extension Benefits

A study of roughly 80,000 British adults confirmed the finding. Racket sports lowered all-cause mortality by 47% and cardiovascular death by 56%, beating swimming, aerobics, running, and cycling.

Three mechanisms stack on top of each other.

The first is interval training built into the game. Every rally mixes explosive sprints, lateral cuts, decelerations, and sustained aerobic recovery. It trains fast-twitch and slow-twitch muscle fibers at the same time. Most steady-state cardio only hits one system.