Tennis warm-up exercises
5 efficient warm-up exercises for tennis beginners
5 efficient warm-up exercises for tennis beginners
Every tennis player should do a short warm-up program before the tennis training session or match. It reduces the risk of injury, improves the flexibility of the muscles and it prepares you mentally for the upcoming tennis session.
You should do the suggested 5 warm-up exercises before the training session – so just come to the tennis court a few minutes earlier to make the best use of the time.
1. Jumping rope
Everyone knows rope jumping. Jumping rope activates the whole body for the upcoming tennis challenge. The point is not to jump yourself flat but to warm up at your level – 2-3 minutes should be enough.
Start with a classic two-legged jump, then switch from one leg to the other. Towards the end, increase the intensity of the rope jumps.
2. Change of direction
The game of tennis thrives on many and fast changes of direction, so we recommend loose forward running with stopping and changing to backward running. Afterwards, lateral movement can be practiced with sidesteps to the left and right.
Both variations should be done with faster short strides as well as slower long strides. 1 minute for each variation with 30 seconds for each step length is sufficient.
3. Hip and upper body
Tennis involves rotational movements, so the hips and upper body must not be neglected in the warm-up. In a loose, wide-legged stance, simply rotate your hips clockwise and counterclockwise for 30 seconds each. You can use your hands bent to the side for stabilization.
Then stand with your legs apart again, put your arms in front of your body and rotate your upper body to the left and right alternately from a standing position – again for 30 seconds each. To do this, it is a good idea to hold either the tennis racket or another object, e.g. a medicine ball*, in your hands.
4. Shoulder and arms
The shoulders and arms should be warm before the first strokes on the tennis court. It is a good idea to start with 3 light shoulder movements for 20 seconds each: up and down, circling forward and circling backward.
Next, we recommend using resistance bands to warm up your arms. To do this, first hold the band with your left hand in front of your body and pull it with your right hand alternately forward and to the right into full extension.
Then do the whole thing in reverse and hold the band with your right hand. On each side 30 seconds is enough.
5. Stretching
To conclude the warm-up program, we perform four classic stretching exercises on each side. Hold each for about 10 seconds and perform 2-3 repetitions:
a) The heel is pressed backward on the floor during the lunge while the leg is extended through. To increase the intensity, the hip can be slowly pushed forward.
b) The foot is rotated 90 degrees outward during the lateral lunge while the leg is bent and weighted. The upper body remains upright throughout the exercise.
c) In front of the body, grab the elbow of the other arm with the hand and pull the hand toward the body with the elbow at shoulder level.
d) Extend both arms upward and then, while bending, grasp the elbow of the other arm with one hand and slowly pull the hand behind the head.
