As pickleball has grown in popularity, one question that we get a lot is “What stretches should I do before I play?" The first thing we tell our athletes is “Think active, not passive.”
Let me explain.
Passive stretching is what we all know and probably grew up doing. It has become dogmatic that stretching prevents injury. The current research does not reflect that. Passive stretching is your classic hamstring stretch, or a quad stretch or calf stretch. All this does is temporarily diminish the stretch reflex. That reflex is there for a reason and inhibiting it may not be the best idea. Well, let’s just say it’s probably not ideal.
Active stretching is basically what we mean when we say “mobility.” It’s improving range of motion through use of the muscle. To be clear, we’re not saying passive stretching is bad, it’s just not the best use of your time prior to sport.
Think of it this way: you want to warm the muscle up. What’s the best way to do that? Blood. Flood the area with blood and now you have a warm muscle. Blood tends to pool towards the gut and brain when you are sedentary. Especially if you just had a meal (gut), or you are studying or reading (brain). If your limbs get cold after a meal, this is why.
Using your muscles will get blood to your limbs. Jumping rope or doing burpees will get a lot of blood to the limbs. If you want to improve your range of motion while using your muscles, now that’s mobility. Bonus points if it’s sport specific.
So then the question becomes, what movements does the sport demand. Pickleball is a rotational sport like golf or tennis. So we know we need spinal rotation. Thoracic rotations are something you can do for that. View the exercise on YouTube at the following link, or scan the QR code on the associated photo to access the step-by-step video: https://youtu.be/rk742CkVPo8
Pickleball requires a lot of leg movement. So we should select an exercise that challenges the hip, knee, and ankle. Here is our first choice, the 27 Squat Drill: https://youtu.be/eBTVNU4oOzk
Also, you need to be able to swing, so a shoulder exercise, such as PNF D1D2 would be a good choice, which you can view here: https://youtu.be/j9I4G1_2w64
There’s no right way to warm up, but there are better ways. It’s also important to recover afterwards. We build out a comprehensive list of exercises for warm up and recovery. If you’d like to download it, visit bit.ly/PickleballPerformance
Dr. Ellis is a hands-on physical therapist who thrives at educating his patients. He is the owner of Dynamic Physio Therapy and is currently studying Functional Medicine, and has multiple nutrition certificates. Dr. Ellis discovered his path of wellness after falling down an elevator shaft and breaking multiple bones. He reclaimed his health and now strives at doing the same for active adults and athletes.
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