Keep playing.
Without paying
for it tomorrow.
Dr. Tom Lankering has spent 42 years helping active people in the Roaring Fork Valley find the pattern behind the pain — and stay in the game they love.
We’ll be in touch.
Dr. Tom’s office will confirm your appointment within one business day.
Cash-pay • HSA/FSA • CareCredit
One thing aging bodies don’t need is more effort.
Two people. Same age. One plays three mornings a week. The other needs three days to recover from one game.
That gap isn’t fitness. It’s organization — how well all the systems are working together. When one falls behind, another takes over. That compensation keeps you moving for a while. Eventually, the areas doing the extra work start to complain too.
The injury on the court is rarely where the story starts. Pickleball ER visits have increased 88% since 2020, and 91% of those injuries happen in players over 50. Most are predictable. Which means most are preventable.
The Compensation Cascade.
What looks like five separate problems is usually one pattern playing out across the body. Here’s how it develops — and why treating the symptom rarely resolves it.
One system falls behind
A stiff hip, an old shoulder that never fully healed, a nervous system running on fumes, recovery that’s been incomplete for years. It’s usually quiet at first.
The body compensates
Another area changes its job to keep you moving. You don’t notice. The body is doing exactly what it’s designed to do.
Other areas take the extra load
A stiff hip changes your stride and rotation. Your back, knee, or shoulder picks up more than it should. The chain reaction spreads.
Symptoms multiply
Pain, stiffness, fatigue, slow recovery, altered reactions — they appear to be different problems in different places. They’re usually the same pattern.
You protect and do less
Conditioning falls. Technique changes under fatigue. You hold back on shots. The cycle reinforces itself — until someone interrupts it at the root.
What Dr. Tom looks at.
Every new patient visit for a pickleball player at Lankering Chiropractic covers six areas of how the body is functioning. Together, they tell the story of where your capacity is going.
What changes when you find the pattern.
Dr. Tom Lankering, DC
Doctor of Chiropractic — Basalt, Colorado — 42 Years in Practice
I’ve spent 42 years watching bodies adapt, compensate, and — when given the right conditions — restore. I’ve seen the patterns that lead to injury, the ones that lead to vitality, and the difference between them.
Pickleball is one of the best things to happen to active adults in this valley. It’s social, competitive, and genuinely good for the brain and body. It’s also demanding in ways most players don’t account for — especially after 50, when recovery slows and patterns that were invisible start showing up as symptoms.
The players I see who stay on the court in their 60s and 70s aren’t tougher or luckier. They understand where the capacity is going — and they have someone helping them address it before it becomes an injury.
Your first visit with Dr. Tom.
The $99 new patient visit is where we start. It’s a complete evaluation — not a sales appointment. You’ll leave with a clear picture of where your body is spending capacity it shouldn’t have to, and a specific plan for addressing it.
Patients from Basalt, Carbondale, Glenwood Springs, El Jebel, and Aspen are welcome. Most drive 20–40 minutes for care they can’t find anywhere else in the valley.
- Complete health history and nervous system evaluation
- Assessment across all six player areas
- BrainTap guided brainwave session
- Ion Cleanse detoxification foot bath
- Chiropractic assessment
- Personalized care plan
We’ll be in touch shortly.
Dr. Tom’s office will contact you within one business day to confirm. We look forward to seeing you.