Pickleball 101: Pre-Match Warmup

Get your competitive juices flowing with this warmup routine for the pickleball court.

Before the first serve of a pickleball match, it’s crucial to run through a solid warmup.

“Not only does it loosen up the body,” Founder of Level-Up Pickleball Camps Wayne Dollar says, “but it also gets some of the nerves and the tension out. It helps you get a feel for the ball and the wind and the court surface.”

Dollard offers his pickleball warmup routine as a good example of what to run though:

•  

• Line up with your partner on opposite sides of the net at the non-volley line.

• Take a couple of minutes to practice controlled dinks. Sometimes it can be helpful to flick a volley at each other

• After hitting some forehand and backhand dinks, one partner can back up to the baseline to hit some drop shots. You can also use this time to swing out on some hard forehands and backhands

• Finally, work your way back up to the net and practice a few cooperative reaction volleys

•  

Repeat this process for both partners — it should be quick and efficient and last about five minutes. Remember that the warmup routine is cooperative, so you should not try to beat your partner.

Warming up is important before every match and can help get you and your partner ready to dominate the pickleball court.