‘Warming Up is Key’ with Yasmin Palejwala

Tennis is a sport that involves fast bursts of energy with periods of standing still in between. Therefore, warming up beforehand and staying warm is super important to prevent injury.

It is very common to injure yourself running for the dropshot or dashing sideways to try and chip back a serve return in the first few games! Warming up your whole body and stretching your muscles and lifting your heart rate before you play can help increase the blood flow to all over your body and prevent this from happening.

Some examples of warm up exercises could be:

1.     Run a few laps of the court, changing to side stepping along the baselines.

2.     Circle your arms 10x forward and 10x backwards.

3.     Reach up as high as you can, then roll down and aim to touch your toes. Breathe through and try and hold the stretches for 10-20 seconds.

4.     Lunge walking or stepping sideways into a squat across the width of the court.

5.     Hit with a partner before playing a match – practice groundstrokes, volleys, smashes and serves building up the intensity slowly to make sure you feel ready to play.