Pickleball has been named the fastest-growing sport in America, combining elements of tennis, table-tennis, and badminton. But when it comes to tennis versus pickleball, which offers the greatest health benefits?

That’s a question a research study is tackling with the help of Apple Watch data, and the Cupertino company has shared some initial insights …

Pickleball

While the sport was first invented back in 1965, it’s only in recent years that it has really taken off. The Sports and Fitness Industry Association named it the fastest-growing sport in the United States for each of the past three years – 2021, 2022, and 2023 – and it now has around five million players.

The popularity of the sport has been attributed to offering a similar level of fun to tennis, but with a much easier learning-curve. Advocates say you can pick up enough in one lesson to begin playing competitively at a social level.

Tennis versus Pickleball: Apple health study

Apple’s study found that both activities offered significant physical and mental health benefits.

Participants often played pickleball and tennis for long periods of time, averaging a peak heart rate within 70 percent of their estimated max heart rate during recorded workouts […]

Across the study, results consistent with a depressed mood were rare, but the distribution of [depression screening] scores was lower among frequent pickleball and tennis players. 

So far, it appears the jury is out on how the two compare in terms of health impact, but tennis works players a little harder.

After analyzing more than 250,000 pickleball and tennis workouts recorded on Apple Watch by study participants, researchers found pickleball workouts were slightly longer than tennis workouts on average — 90 minutes versus 81 minutes, respectively — and saw greater variability in time played. 

To assess the intensity of each workout type, researchers analyzed heart rate data. The average peak 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 exercise effort. While both sports had similar trends in time spent within each heart rate zone, on average, tennis workouts had nine percentage points more time in higher-intensity heart rate zones compared to pickleball workouts.

But if you’re seeking a more active lifestyle, then either activity is likely to reap rewards. Apple echoed oft-heard advice from physical trainers: Do the thing you most enjoy, because you’re more likely to stick to it.

Sumbul Desai, M.D., Apple’s vice president of Health said: “Physical inactivity is a modifiable risk factor for cardiovascular disease and a number of other chronic conditions. Finding an activity that someone enjoys partaking in can help build a routine, whether that means picking up a paddle or a racket.”

The Apple Heart and Movement Study is a partnership between Brigham and Women’s Hospital, the American Heart Association, and Apple. It has more than 200,000 participants across the United States who have given their consent to share data. If you’re interested in joining the study, you can learn more here.

The Apple Watch has a Pickleball workout, which you can find by opening the Workout app, selecting Add Workout, and then choosing Pickleball.