How to Warm-Up for Pickleball
Several years ago, I set up a tent and table at the US open for Pickleball in Naples, FL. We saw a ton of injuries, ankles and calves, elbows, some back and some shoulders. It’s tempting to name a blog like this, “how to prevent injuries”, but that’s misleading. You can’t truly prevent injuries, however you can improve your warm-ups for the best possible outcome.
Most injuries occur because your body is not ready for whatever activity you are about to do. Overuse injuries are simply when you outwork what the capacity of your muscles and nervous system are ready for. Weaker muscles get overused faster, keep that in mind.
Some injuries occur because you don’t have adequate range of motion for your sport. For instance, most sports are highly rotational and a pattern I see every day is that many athletes are missing hip internal rotation. The way the body works is that when you are trying to perform a function, it’ll find what it needs. So as you rotate, you’ll soak up your hip rotation, then your lumbar rotation, until it finds what it needs. So that means that you might be pushing past your available range. That’s like taking a hammer and lightly hitting your thumb. Eventually, with enough repetition, it’ll start to hurt.
Other injuries such as cramping, occur because your internal environment is not optimal. This means tissue perfusion (blood flow) and nutrition. Obviously, sports require energy. So having a salad before a pickleball tournament is not adequate. You will eventually crash. Your body will preserve calories for your vital organs over musculature. The muscles also require water and electrolytes to contract. This is another huge missing piece. Many athletes focus on hydration, but fail to realize that you lose electrolytes when you are sweating. Your kidneys' job is to keep balance between water and electrolytes, so it’ll keep dumping water until you raise your electrolytes.
So, to create the best possible scenario:
Match your calories to the activity. You should eat more on the day of a tournament.
Hydrate and add electrolytes. I like the brand LMNT. Do that an hour or two prior to playing, and throughout the activity.
Think blood flow. Your warm up should be active. At rest, and particularly after a meal, your blood pools in your gut. You want blood to get to the periphery.
Touch the end ranges of motion. This is not the time to passively stretch or foam roll. You should prioritize active motion.
As always, prioritize sleep. Nothing works well when you have slept poorly.
If there’s one drill I would do, it would be the 27 squat drill. It perfuses the body with blood, and works all the ranges of motion of the ankles, knees, and hips.
If you want more ideas on pickleball warm-up (and recovery), check out our program: