Padel warm-up exercises

The huge influx of first-timers on to Britain's padel courts is fantastic for the sport, but it's important that beginners (as well as more experienced players) are well prepared for the game's varied physical demands.

With many forward, backward and lateral movements, ball retrieval requiring rapid acceleration and deceleration, not to mention the action of hitting shots, the beginner's body is moving repetitively in ways it may not be used to.

To prevent injuries such as hamstrings, calf and quadriceps strains, it's important to prepare the body for the new pressures it may come under during a game.

Warming up the body

It's recommended to take 10-15 minutes to warm up before a padel session.

Ideally, we want to raise our heart rate, so some gentle cardio, such as a jog around the court or back and forth to the glass, for two minutes will get your heart beat going.

To activate muscle groups and mobilise joints, the following simple exercises (repeated 10 times each) will help prepare your whole body:

• Squats - Standing up with feet flat and hips aligned, bend the knees, stand back up slowly, then repeat. Drive through the legs and tuck in your pelvis when standing.
  
  
• Lateral lunges - Stand with feet together and hands together in front of your chin, engage your abs, take a big lateral step to your left and bend the knees deep on landing. Push back up from your left foot, rise, bring your chest up and return to your original standing position, then repeat to your right.
  
  
• Forward lunges - With feet hip-width apart, take a step forward with chest up and abs engaged. With front leg bent at 90 degrees, hold, then power back up to standing position for explosiveness.
  
  
• Wall press-up - Start with hands outstretched against the wall and stand on the balls of your feet. With your chest in between your hands, do vertical press-ups against the wall, tucking in your tailbone as you move in and out.
  
  
• Sprints - Starting with one knee on the floor, drive up hard and sprint between the net and back glass. Take long rests between sets. Alternate the lead leg.

A racket warm up

Often players might do a physical warm-up, then go straight on court and have no rhythm to their shots. So a racket warm-up, as well as a physical warm-up, is ideal preparation. A racket warm-up could include:

• Rallying with a partner in each of the typical in-game situations (opponent at the net, you at the net to hit some volleys and overheads and hitting some serves and returns).
  
  
• Set yourself goals during the racket warm-up, such as rallying with your partner at the back of the court and building a rally of more than 10 shots.
  
  
• Ladder rallies - start with a rally of three, then build up to rallies of four, five, six, seven shots etc. Once you've done that for five minutes, your shots will be warmed up and ready to play.

A mental warm up

Warming up your mind is also a great way to prepare yourself for a session or a match.

A productive exercise can be highlighting three things you want to achieve by the end of the session, to try and maximise its value.

Examples might be, ‘I want to use the glass more effectively’ or ‘I want to hit three lobs successfully.’ If you achieve these small goals, you can consider it a victory!