It’s essential to make sure you give yourself enough time to warm up and stretch before you hit the court to ensure you’re ready to play. The stretches we go over will get your body warmed up enough to jump into hitting and limit the risk of injury. Here are some essential pickleball stretches and warm-up exercises to consider.
Give these a try the next time you’re about to play a match.
Stretches Before You Play Pickleball
Dynamic stretches are the best to do before you play as they will help optimize your performance and reduce the risk of injuring yourself. Below are some quick and easy exercises that can be performed three to five minutes before you’re set to play.
Windmills – this exercise will open the back, hamstrings, calves, and shoulders and maybe bring you back to grade school P.E. class. It’s a good general exercise to get the blood flowing when you first step on the court.
How to: Spread your legs to about hip-distance apart and fully extend your arms at shoulder height. Reach one hand to the opposite foot, stand back up, and then repeat. If your hamstrings are tight, bend a little bit at the knees. Do 10 reps on each side.
Arm Circles – this exercise will help you open up the chest and shoulders and get you prepped for swinging your paddle. Move your arms in big circles and allow the momentum to open up your shoulders and chest. After 10 reps, reverse the direction.
Criss-Crosses – this is going to help you open up and get that chest ready to work. Open up your arms wide and hug yourself, changing what arm is on top every time. The momentum of this exercise will stretch out your chest but also promote blood flow to warm it up.
Moving Lunges – there is a lot of lunging involved in pickleball, so incorporating this exercise in your pre-match warm-up is important. Take a big step forward, bend the knee, stand back up, and switch legs. Make sure the front knee stays in line with your ankle. You can stabilize yourself while you do this exercise using a pole, a chair, or your doubles partner.
Pre-Match Hitting
Take time to get on court before you play to warm up your feet and hands. Here is a routine you and your partner can do five minutes before your next match.
Dink Rally – Play out a rally with controlled, consistent dinks to one another. Starting off hitting close to the net on the non-volley line will help engage your footwork and hand-eye coordination right away.
Up & Back – One player will stay at the net while the other works their way back to the baseline. Begin the point with a dink shot and take a step back every shot until you’re at the baseline, and then you’ll start transitioning back to the net while your partner moves back. This will help you develop your feel for the ball.
Drives & Volleys – One player is at the baseline while the other is at the net. The baseliner is hitting drives while the net player is warming up their hands at the net, trying to keep their volleys deep every time. Make sure you switch, so your partner is working on driving while you warm up your volleys.
Skinny Singles – We discussed how to play Skinny Singles here, but a quick overview is that you play out points on half of the pickleball court. This is where you’ll warm up your serves and returns and transition into gameplay before your match.
Warming up your body is key to prevent injury and get your body and mind ready to play. Stick to dynamic stretches when you’re cold as they typically bring your muscles through their range of motion and are a gentle way to prep your muscles, instead of static stretches. Limit your static stretching for when you’re done playing.
Go ahead and test some of these essential pickleball stretches and warm-up exercises, see if they fit into your pre-match routine.