In tennis, your muscles and joints are put under massive strain, especially during abrupt changes of direction and explosive sprints. Therefore, a professional warm-up before training or a tennis match is very important to prevent injuries. Our first part is all about the best warm-up exercises for your footwork!
The two tennis pros Nicola Geuer and Stefan Koubek show you which fitness exercises they recommend to all tennis fans to prepare the body specifically for tennis and for optimum injury prevention. The exercises are also performed by many professionals on the ATP and WTA Tour before they compete on center court.
In four parts , we present the best warm-up and cool-down exercises and the corresponding suitable equipment from cones, loop bands and reaction balls to running ladders, resistance bands and medicine balls.
Part 1: The best warm-up exercises for leg work
A well thought-out warm-up program is part of the optimal preparation for tennis. Studies by sports physicians show that a proper warm-up can significantly reduce the risk of sports injuries and that muscle and tendon injuries such as sprains and strains are much more common without warm-up exercises. Tennis players should therefore always plan ten to fifteen minutes for warm-up training before training or a tennis match. Warming up ensures that the entire musculoskeletal system is more resilient and ligaments and tendons become more elastic.
No tennis bag should be without a skipping rope for a relaxed warm-up. You can vary this as you wish - dance, alternate the weight on your legs, hop on one leg or even cross your arms during cross jumps to train your arm coordination. And with a little experience, you can even do double jumps during the warm-up.
After jumping rope, continue with exercises with the mini-loop band on the legs for the muscles. Please always maintain a low center of gravity and keep your upper body as straight as possible. You can use the loop band in different variations, sideways in both directions or diagonally backwards and forwards. It is very important that the band always remains taut.
For our next warm-up exercise, you will need a running ladder and a loop band with a slightly higher resistance. Again, the body's center of gravity remains low. Simply step in and out of the ladder with your right leg while keeping the band taut. Then switch sides and repeat with the left leg. The running ladder is ideal for many other warm-up exercises. The best way to work your legs is to run through the ladder with two mini-steps per box, first very comfortably and then faster and faster.
For the next exercise, get yourself some small marker cones, which fit in any tennis bag and are also perfect targets for serve practice.
We use them in our warm-up training for footwork to practise small, quick steps. Simply back and forth or sideways through the two cones. Please make sure your center of gravity is low and your upper body is straight.
The resistance band is a cool tool for tennis warm-up training with a wide range of exercise options. You need a partner or attach the band to the net post.
We start with skipping on the spot and continue with sidesteps. The resistance warms up and activates the muscles even more.
Once you have completed these warm-up exercises, your legs will certainly be fit enough for training or a match on the tennis court.
Before you start, you should perform a few tennis-specific exercises that target both the legs and the upper body during warm-up training. You take your tennis racket in your hand and - again held by the resistance band - imitate alternating forehand and backhand groundstrokes and volleys.
Take a look!
