Tennis warm-up

A tennis warm-up routing for tennis players

The purpose of warming up is to prepare your body for the activity you are about to perform. The warm-up should be sufficient to get the blood flowing into all the muscles of your body, massage the joints through their range of motion and should mimic the sport or particular training style you are about to engage in. This minimises the chances of you hurting yourself – you should never hit the ground running when it comes to exercising.

A five minute jog followed by some swinging arm and leg motions will serve the average Joe adequately for a recreational hit of tennis. This article is thus for the more serious player, where the exchange of rallies is longer, faster and with more power.

These warm-up suggestions are not exclusive to tennis players as many of the movements in tennis are similar to those in other sports. People whose interests lie in other sports can still reap the benefits of this warm-up routine.

Dynamic Stretches

You will notice all the dynamic stretches are somewhat more aerobic in nature. These stretches, because they incorporate more running type movements, are better at getting the blood flowing around your body. See below for specific information on what each dynamic stretch focuses on.

1. Jogging with arm circles – flexibility in the shoulders, chest and upper back.
2. Side step with arm crosses – flexibility in the shoulders, chest and upper back.
3. Carioca – flexibility of the lower legs and trunk.
4. Knee-to-chest hug – flexibility in the calves, lower extremities, hips and trunk.
5. Knee-hug lunge – flexibility in the lower extremities, hips and trunk, plus facilitates activation of the quads and hip flexors.
6. Inverted hamstring walk – flexibility and balance of hamstrings and gluteals.
7. Figure 4 tuck – flexibility of the groin and hips.
8. Side lunge – flexibility of the groin and hips.
9. Frankenstein walk – flexibility of the hamstrings, gluteals and lower back.
10. Front lunge – flexibility of the hips and trunk, plus facilitates activation of the quads and hip flexors.
11. Torso rotation into lunge – flexibility of the trunk, hips and
    shoulders, plus facilitates activation of the quads and hip flexors.
12. High step trunk rotation – flexibility of the hips and trunk.
13. Backward lunge with trunk rotation – flexibility of the hip flexors and trunk.
14. Backward step over – flexibility of the groin and hips.
15. Butt kicks – flexibility of the quadriceps.
16. Torso rotations – flexibility of the hips, trunk and shoulders.
17. Arm hugs – flexibility of the upper back, chest and shoulders.

Static stretches

These stretches are of the more traditional ‘stretch-and-hold’ type. Now that you have worked up a bit of a sweat from dynamic stretching, your muscles have more ability to elongate and thus benefit more from this style of stretching.

Lower Limb and Trunk

1. Ankle rolls – more dynamic in nature, flexibility of the ankle joints.
2. Calf stretch – flexibility of the gastrocnemius and soles muscles.
3. Groin stretch – flexibility of the groin and inner thigh muscles.
4. Side stretch – flexibility of the muscles of the lateral chain.
5. Hamstring stretch – flexibility of the hamstrings and gluteals.
6. Quadriceps stretch – flexibility of the quadriceps and hip flexors.
7. Hip flexor stretch – flexibility of the hip flexors.
8. Figure 4 stretch – flexibility of the piriformis muscle and external rotators of the hip.
9. Hip twist – flexibility of the lateral hip muscles and lower back.
10. Hip rotator stretch – flexibility of the hip rotators, lateral hip and thigh muscles.
11. Low back stretch – flexibility of the lower back and gluteals.
12. Spinal twist – flexibility of the lower back and hip rotators.

Upper Limb

1. Posterior shoulder stretch – flexibility of the rear deltoid, external shoulder rotator muscles.
2. Shoulder stretch – flexibility of the rear deltoid, internal shoulder rotator muscles.
3. Anterior shoulder stretch – anterior shoulder capsule and pectoralis minor muscles.
4. Shoulder stretch side-lying – flexibility of the external rotator muscles of the shoulder.
5. Forearm extensor stretch – flexibility of the forearm extensor and supinator muscles.
6. Forearm flexor stretch – flexibility of the forearm flexor and pronator muscles.
7. Chest stretch – flexibility of the pectorals major muscles.
8. Triceps stretch – flexibility of the triceps and latissimus muscles.
9. Wrist rolls – more dynamic in nature, flexibility of the wrist joints.

You will never feel as ready as you do now having performed this warm-up routine, best of luck!

*DISCLAIMER: This discussion does not provide medical advice. The
information, including but not limited to, text, graphics, images and
other material contained in this discussion are for informational
purposes only. The purpose of this discussion is to promote broad
consumer understanding and knowledge of various health topics. It is not
intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis
or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other
qualified health care provider with any questions you may have regarding
a medical condition or treatment and before undertaking a new health
care regimen, and never disregard professional medical advice or delay
in seeking it because of something you have read in this blog.