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Before performing any exercise, it is important to prepare the body by performing an appropriate warm-up. Warming up prepares the body for sport performance and can help decrease the risk of injury. The warm-up for tennis should be done before every exercise session - whether it be for competition, practice on the court or training in the gym.

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Example Tennis Match Warm-Up

Tennis a very demanding sport that requires the body to be in excellent physical condition. The sport involves extended periods of high-intensity movements, involving rapid accelerations and change of direction. To get the body prepared for such activities, a thorough warm-up is required.

The warm-up should start off at a low intensity, with a gradual progression from general and simple movements to more tennis specific and higher intensity actions. Here is an example of what can be done, but the specifics can be adjusted to suit constraints such as player experience, limited space and time, and the environmental conditions.

• 3-5 minutes slow jog, or if there is no space for that you can running on the spot, skipping or jumping jacks.
• 15 minutes of stretching - involving dynamic and static stretches, both the upper and lower body. examples include arm circles, trunk twists, toe touching and high knees.
• 5 × court runs (work from 50% effort sprint to maximal sprint).
• 5 shuttles across the court (75% effort).
• Shadowing - mimicking tennis actions with the racket in hand
• Tennis rallys: strokes from the baseline, smashes, volleys at the net and serving.

Special Considerations

• If there is an extended rest period from the time you have finished warming up to the start of the match, you may have to go through some of these procedures again to prepare the muscles and joints to safely begin the game.
• It is also important to have an adequate warm down after the match

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Related Pages

• Fitness for Tennis
• Warm up for Sprinting
• Warming Up For Sports
• List of Stretches
• Fitness for Sports section
• Discussion of the Fitness Components for Tennis