Regardless of age or skill level, every pickleball player should have a warmup routine in their arsenal before getting down to business on the 20x44. 

I recently spoke with Mark Hamm, a physical therapist with University of Florida Health, to learn more about key exercises that effectively prepare you for a day at the courts. 

“There’s a difference between warming up and stretching. You actually don’t want to stretch before the activity, and there’s research showing that if you stretch before your workout, you’ll actually do worse because all you’re doing is stretching tissue and not really warming it up,” explained Hamm. “You want to be doing things that are not stagnant or lengthening the tissue. You want to bias your neurological and musculoskeletal systems so that you’re preparing for your actual sport.” 

Here’s why you should warm up before playing pickleball:

• Helps with injury prevention. Warming up increases blood flow, widening the vessels and providing more oxygen to muscles, which prevents muscle strain or tearing.
• Increases heart rate that reduces sudden stress to your heart when playing.
• Increases muscle temperature, improving flexibility and efficiency of muscles.
• Loosens the joints and improves joint lubrication.
• Increases muscle elasticity, which allows the muscle to have a better chance of avoiding injury during ballistic movements.
  
  

The following warmup routine should only take around five minutes.

Hamm understands that most people aren't going to spend a ton of time on this, especially after a court opens up and you only have a few minutes to get going.

The routine is meant to be quick and easy for players at any level.

1.  Jog or skip for 30 seconds

Take a few minutes to jog the length of the court.

You can also shuffle or skip forwards or backwards.

“You’re not trying to go at your highest intensity. You should be going at 10% to 15% of your energy. Someone who’s a more advanced player might want to pretend like they’re jumping rope to have that bouncing and ballistic movement,” said Hamm.

Each of the following exercises can be done in 10-20 reps, based on time and preference.

2. High stepping 

This may be done stationary or jumping.

Stretch out your arms straight out in front of you and raise one knee up at a time. 

3. Frankenstein march 

Stand up straight with your arms stretched out in front of you and kick your legs forward towards your toes.

“Same position as the high steps, but instead of marching with your knee bent, you’re trying to kick forward like you’re walking like Frankenstein,” said Hamm.

4. Butt kicks 

This can also be stationary or jumping.

Stand up straight and kick your feet backwards towards your backside. 

“You don’t want your knee to get in front of your hip. It has to stay down below the hip so that we’re coming across the iliopsoas. You have five muscles across the front of your knee, the four quadricep and one other large muscle, the sartorius, which is very involved with knee stability. Those cross the knee and the hip, and they have to be stretched across both joints at the same time, so the knee must stay behind the hip,” noted Hamm. 

5. Trunk extension with arms raised

Stand tall, raise your arms above your head, and lean backwards slightly. 

“This warms up the obliques and the rectus abdominis, where all the muscles run through the front of your trunk at the same time,” shared Hamm.

Remember, you want to do these exercises without straining because this is simply warming up to play, so take it easy. 

6. Lateral trunk flexion with arms to the side

Similarly to the previous exercise, reach your arms up and over to the right side, move straight over your head, pause, then move your arms to the left. 

7. Skier

Sit back and move your knees to the left and right as if you’re a skier going down a mountain.  

“More advanced players can do them one leg at a time, or incorporate the movement with a squat,” advised Hamm.

8. Heel raises

Stand straight up and lift your heels off the ground. 

9. Lateral lunge with arms raised

Stand tall and lunge to one side while raising both arms over your head. Repeat on the other side. 

“This is a great one for pickleball since there's a lot of lateral, side-to-side movement in the game,” said Hamm.

10. Alternating forward and reverse lunges

Start with one leg and lunge forward, then lunge backward with the same leg. Repeat with the other leg.

For the reverse lunge, you can keep your back leg straight to dynamically stretch your ankles. 

“You’ve got three major muscles that cross the back of your ankle. The Achilles tendon injuries from pickleball are often from someone backing up to get a shot and they can tear or injure their Achilles,” mentioned Hamm.

11. Sumo squat

Stand with your legs wide and squat down. 

“This is a great one for pickleball players, too, for when they squat down low to get a ball at the kitchen line,” said Hamm.

He also recommended that advanced players incorporate a jump into their sumo squat.

12. Arm circles

Stand with your arms outstretched wide from side to side and rotate them forwards and backwards in a circular motion.

13. Wrist extension and wrist deflection 

Hold your hand out in front of you with your palm face up and gently ease your hand in a downward motion with your other hand.

Flip your hand over so that your palm is face down and gently push your hand down to stretch your wrist. 

All of these dynamic exercises are entirely customizable to your body and pickleball intensity level, so protect yourself and start making this routine a habit.