Guides  ·  2026-04-23  ·  7 min read

Padel Warm-Up: Essential Exercises Before Playing

You arrive at the court, put your gloves on, hit a couple of volleys against the wall, and head straight into the match. If that's your usual routine, you're far from alone — but you are unnecessarily raising your risk of injury. Warming up before padel isn't optional: it's the difference between playing with an activated, prepared body and starting the first point with cold muscles and unlubricated joints.

The good news is that you don't need an elite protocol. Ten to fifteen minutes done properly is more than enough. This article explains what to do, in what order, and why each part matters.

Why warm up before playing padel

Padel demands explosive accelerations, sudden stops, rapid changes of direction, trunk-rotation strokes, and wall play — all with the ankle, knee, hip, shoulder, and elbow joints under repeated stress.

A cold muscle is a stiff muscle: it contracts more slowly, produces less force, and tears more easily under a sudden load. Warming up serves four concrete physiological purposes:

• Raise muscle temperature — improves contraction speed and tissue elasticity.
• Lubricate joints — synovial fluid needs movement to distribute evenly.
• Activate the nervous system — sport-specific movement patterns (forehand, smash, volley) are executed better once the nervous system has already "rehearsed" them.
• Prepare the cardiovascular system — gradually raising heart rate avoids the stress of jumping into maximum intensity with a resting heart.

For a deeper dive into the most common injuries and how to avoid them, see our article on common padel injuries and how to prevent them.

The most common mistake: static stretching on cold muscles

Many players still do what they learned at school: pull the foot behind and hold for 30 seconds, or bend down to touch their toes. This is static stretching, and doing it before exercise with cold muscles is not only unhelpful — it can be counterproductive.

Current scientific evidence is clear: prolonged static stretching before exercise can temporarily reduce muscle strength and power. Save it for after the match, when muscles are warm and genuinely benefit from increased range of motion.

Before playing, what works is dynamic stretching: controlled movements that travel through the joint's range of motion with the muscle active, without holding static positions.

Phase 1: Cardiovascular activation (3-5 minutes)

The first goal is to gradually raise body temperature and heart rate. No need to go for a run outside — what you have on the court is enough.

Light jog around the court

Two or three laps at an easy jogging pace around the perimeter of the court. The pace should be comfortable: if you can't hold a conversation normally, you're going too fast. The goal is to get circulation going, not to tire yourself out.

Lateral shuffles

Side to side across the court in a defensive stance: knees slightly bent, shuffle steps, feet never crossing. Two sets back and forth. This movement is one of the most frequent in padel and activating it from the start makes a lot of sense.

High knees and heel flicks

30 seconds of high knees (knees to chest at a gentle rhythm) and 30 seconds of heel flicks (heels to glutes). These dynamically activate the hip flexors, quads, and hamstrings.

Phase 2: Joint mobility (3-4 minutes)

Once the body has some heat in it, it's time to lubricate the joints. Mobility exercises are circular, slow, and controlled. This is not stretching — it's active range of motion.

Ankles

Supported against the wall or with one foot raised, draw circles with the ankle in both directions. Ten circles each way per ankle. The ankle is the joint most at risk in direction-change sprains.

Knees

Feet together, hands on knees, small circles in both directions. Then open to shoulder width and perform slow partial squats (not going to depth), 10 reps, focusing on joint mobility rather than muscular effort.

Hips

Wide hip circles in both directions (like a hula hoop), 10 each way. Then lateral knee raises: standing, bring the knee out to hip height, lower it, and repeat 8 times per side. The hips are the engine of padel strokes — if they're stiff, you'll compensate with the arm and the elbow will pay the price.

Thoracic spine and shoulders

Standing with arms extended to the sides, gentle trunk rotations from side to side. Then shoulder circles forward and backward, 10 in each direction. Trunk rotation is essential for correct stroke mechanics — warming it up prevents overload in the shoulder and elbow.

Wrists and elbows

Wrist circles in both directions and gentle flexions and extensions. With the elbow slightly bent, draw small circles with the hand. Given that lateral epicondylitis is the most common injury in padel, preparing this area is always time well spent.

Phase 3: Dynamic stretching (3-4 minutes)

With body temperature raised and joints activated, move on to dynamic stretching. The key is controlled movement: travel through joint range actively, without jerky rebounds and without holding fixed positions.

Lunges with trunk rotation

Step forward into a lunge, and in the low position rotate your trunk toward the side of the front leg. Return and alternate legs. Eight to ten reps per side. This exercise simultaneously works hip mobility, groin opening, and thoracic rotation — three critical elements in padel.

Leg swings

Supported against the wall with one hand, swing the leg forward and back in a controlled arc, gradually increasing the range. Ten reps per leg in the sagittal plane and ten in the lateral plane (leg crossing in front of the body and then out to the side). Activates hamstrings, quads, and hip abductors.

Shoulder rotations with racket

Holding the racket, make wide slow circles forward and back. Then simulate the smash movement in slow motion, without impact, just running through the movement. This sport-specific gesture is fundamental for activating the rotator cuff.

Chest opener

Clasp fingers behind the back, open the chest dynamically upward and outward (don't hold the position — go in and out of the movement). Ten reps. It counteracts the closed posture typical of desk work and prepares the front of the shoulder for strokes.

Phase 4: Sport-specific activation with a ball (4-5 minutes)

This is the phase that gets skipped most often and, paradoxically, is the most valuable from a neuromuscular standpoint. The goal is for the nervous system to "remember" padel's movement patterns before competitive play begins.

Gentle rallying from close range

Start very close to the net — half a metre to a metre — and rally softly. Low power, high control. The arm barely travels, the ball barely bounces. This phase isn't about warming up muscles (they already are); it's about activating hand-eye coordination and stroke timing.

Gradually move back

Every 30-40 seconds, take a step back. From the net to the baseline. As you move further away, gently increase stroke intensity, always maintaining control. Now is not the time to go full power — it's time to calibrate.

Add lateral movement

Once at the baseline, start moving: a small lateral step before each stroke. Simulate the real game situation: you rarely hit from a static position.

Wall play (optional)

If time allows, spend 60-90 seconds hitting against the side or back wall. The walls are a fundamental part of padel and working with them activates rebound reading, something that can't be prepared without the real ball.

Full 10-minute routine

If you're short on time, here's the condensed version covering the essentials:

If you have 15 minutes, add shoulder rotations with racket, chest openers, and wall play. If you only have 5 minutes for a casual game, prioritise joint mobility and at least 2 minutes of gentle rallying. Something is always better than nothing.

Cool-down: what happens after matters too

The warm-up has its mirror in the cool-down. Finishing the match and heading straight to the shower leaves the cardiovascular and muscular systems with too abrupt a transition. Spend 5-8 minutes at the end:

• Light jog or walk 2-3 minutes: helps clear metabolic waste and brings heart rate down gradually.
• Static stretches (now you can): hamstrings, quads, calves, hip adductors, chest, and front shoulder. Hold each position for 25-30 seconds. With warm muscles this is when the greatest flexibility gains occur.
• Hydration: during or right after the cool-down, replenish fluids. A 60-90 minute padel session can mean between 0.8 and 1.5 litres of sweat depending on conditions.

Consistent cool-downs reduce the next-day muscle stiffness and speed recovery for the next session. If you play three or four times a week, this difference accumulates and becomes clearly noticeable within a few weeks.

Warm-up for different player profiles

Beginners

If you haven't been playing long, warming up is even more important: your body isn't yet adapted to padel's movement patterns and injury risk is higher. Don't skimp on joint mobility and gentle rallying. You can find more advice in our guide on how to improve your padel level.

Players over 40

After 40 tissue elasticity decreases and recovery time lengthens. Extend warm-up time to 15-20 minutes and pay special attention to hip and shoulder mobility. Don't be the player who gets injured on the first point of the first game because they were in a hurry.

After a break from playing

If you haven't played for weeks or months (holidays, a previous injury, work), don't assume your condition is the same as before. On the first session back, reduce match intensity to 60-70% and double your warm-up time. Most recreational athlete injuries happen on the return from a long rest.

Why warming up improves performance, not just prevents injuries

There's a widespread perception that warming up is only about not getting hurt. But the data shows it also significantly improves performance:

• Faster reaction time: a warm nervous system processes stimuli more quickly. You read the ball earlier and respond sooner.
• Better precision: motor patterns rehearsed in the warm-up are executed more faithfully during play.
• Improved decision-making: the first few points of a match are tactically critical. A warmed-up player makes better decisions than one still "finding their rhythm" during the opening games.
• First-set consistency: without warming up, the first set effectively becomes the warm-up, at the cost of unforced errors and dropped points.

To understand the broader health benefits of padel, we recommend reading our article on the health benefits of padel.