Through my years of practice in physical therapy, I have come to terms with the mentality of the “Weekend Warrior.” Whether it’s a less active individual inspired to get off the couch in late fall and rake leaves for 8 hours, or the former college athlete, who hasn’t been out on the court in a few months and thinks her body is invincible, returning to the sport she grew up playing, weekend warriors are everywhere. A great number of my patients feel participating in a sporting activity once a week is enough exercise, and they don’t think about preparing their body for the return to activity after a period of time off.
Tennis is just one example of a lifelong sport that people often revisit through life. It has been the sport that’s always played a role in my life. My participation started as a child, playing recreational tennis in my hometown growing up, then playing for my high school (boys!) tennis team, and, surprisingly, making my college team. After college, I continued to play regularly, and not until this past year did I stop. I moved to a new city, was starting a new life, and finding a new outlet to play tennis wasn’t high on the priority list. Recently, I started back up, dusting off the racquets, getting back out there, and enjoying the game. I forgot how much I loved playing. BUT….my first time out, after a long 90 min session with an instructor, I realized: I had turned into a Weekend Warrior!
I do exercise regularly, stretch, strengthen, and find different cardio activities to keep me feeling good, but I did not prepare enough for the return to tennis. Nothing to prepare me for the critical components of playing (serves, strokes, and quick accelerations to the ball) you take granted when you’re doing it 4-5 times a week. After about 10 months off, my mechanics of all those components changed, and I was putting myself at risk for injury. To compete at any level includes preparing motor skills such as power, strength, agility, speed, explosiveness, and coordination. Another important area of returning to participation in sports is flexibility.
Over the years of my participation in the sport, warming up for tennis has changed. Coaches have different philosophies, team captains lead warm ups differently, and recreational teams sometimes don’t warm up at all. New studies have shown the importance of dynamic stretching and sport specific warm ups. Tennis players of all levels should consider the following steps for proper warm up:
- Cardiovascular warm up: A general warm up lasting between 3-5 minutes such as jumping rope, jogging, or jumping jacks.
- Dynamic stretching including: Walking knee to chest with a heel raise, Grapevine or Carioca, Forward walking lunge with trunk rotation, Gradual small to large arm circles, Jogging “butt kick,” Lateral gallop, and Serving Circles.
- Agility foot drills: Running the lines forward, back, and laterally, and Spider Drill from the base line.
- The above basic warm up is a good way to get started before full participation on the court with a hitting warm up:
- Mini-tennis from the service line. Mini-tennis cross court.
- Pop-up volleys.
- Baseline rally. Cross court rally.
- Volley feed.
- Overheads.
- Serves.
If you have any questions regarding proper warm up for returning to participation in tennis to prevent injury or treat injury, please contact Jessica S. or any of the physical therapists with Joint Ventures Physical Therapy.
