To play any sport you need a healthy body and strong preparation. The same goes for pickleball sport. Though pickleball is not a fast pace game, still your body needs a proper warm-up to give a better performance on the pickleball court. So now the question arises is how to warm up for pickleball?
To answer this question, in the following article, I have explained how important it is to have all those stretches and warm-up exercises before you step onto the pickleball court. Adopting those warm-up routines will help you in boosting your performance as a player as well as maintain your body.
Pickleball Warm Up
In warming up for the pickleball game, you have to warm up the entire body to make the blood flow across every muscle. A small warm-up of 5-10 minutes will make your body fully charged for the rest of the day.
Pickleball has more sideways movement than something does like jogging and sprinting where forward and back motion is more dominant. Therefore, the muscles used by a pickleball player are very different to what any other athlete will use.
Muscles used by a Pickleball Player
To prevent any kind of injury to your body, a pickleball player needs to have all the information about the muscles involved while playing the game. Below are the details of those specific muscles that you need to stretch before using them in the game.
Lower Back Muscles
Lower back injuries are very common in pickleball players, especially when playing shots where you need to bend forward. Therefore, it is so important that before the game, you need to stretch out the muscles in the lower back to avoid injury.
Leg Muscles
In pickleball, tennis and any other racquet sports, you need to have strong legs. There will be constant pressure on the hamstrings, hips and groin area. To have fewer chances of being injured during the game, it is crucial to warm up all those relevant muscles.
Shoulder Muscles
Compared to tennis, shoulder injuries are not very common in pickleball sports. However, just like any other muscle, you also need to properly prepare your shoulders before the match to remain safe from injuries.
How to Warm Up for Pickleball?
To be at your best in pickleball you need to give your body the best preparation and that comes by going through short but quick warm-ups. The following dynamic stretchable exercises will give your body the boost to perform better on the court.
Exercise 1: Arm Circles
The first exercise to warm up your muscles for pickleball is arm circles. In this exercise, rotate your arm for 30 seconds in the forward direction and create large circles. Then repeat the exercise by moving your arm in the backward direction to create circles.
Exercise 2: Twists the Core
Next up is the core stretch. In this dynamic exercise, place your feet slightly wider on the ground than your hip width. After that, with your hands on the core, move your shoulders first on the right and then on the left for 10 twists each. While doing it, make sure to keep your hips direction forward.
Exercise 3: Knee Uplifts
This is a little difficult exercise but a very important one to keep your knee muscles moving. While keeping your balance, uplift your right knee to your hip height and touch it to your palm. Then repeat the same procedure on the left leg. Continue doing this warm-up for 30 seconds maximum.
Exercise 4: Standing Overhead Stretch
Lift your arms over the head with maximum stretch. Now bring them back down with a swing just behind your hips and again lift them. Try to do 15 repetitions of this exercise.
Exercise 5: Standing Side-Crunches
Another tough exercise but one that will surely get your blood and heart rate flowing across the body. In this exercise, you have to bring your leg up to the side with your elbow crunching down to meet the same leg. Try to do 15 moves of this dynamic warm-up on each side.
So there you have it. These are the five basic warm-up exercises that you must do every time before you play a pickleball game. This will surely help you to get your body fully prepared and keep the blood flowing to the right muscles.
Conclusion
It is necessary for every player to always prepare his body and there is no better way than to have a short but effective warm-up. After stretching the muscles, your body is ready to go onto the court. That is why, in the above article, I have explained how to warm up for pickleball with the help of those simple exercises. Give yourself a chance by doing a proper warm-up and you will see the difference in your body. It will raise the level of your performance while keeping the body extremely healthy
