Like many sports in the UAE Tennis can be very active. Even for seniors who might prefer to play at a gentle pace warming up and stretching is crucial before you start to avoid injury and even improve your gameplay.

We asked a professional female tennis coach from Abu Dhabi for her tips and advice about stretching exercises before you hit the court.

Why is warming up important before playing tennis?

Question: Tennis is an active game which can place stress on muscles and joints if warm ups are not done correctly. In order to reduce injury do you think stretching exercises should be performed before playing tennis?

Definitely, yes. Stretching exercises are an important part of the whole process of training. The majority of comfortableness we feel on a daily basis is brought about by being too static. Which is why we use Stretches in order to untie our bodies knots. This applied to all sports and fitness activities in Abu Dhabi not just Tennis and is key to injury prevention.

How much warm up should I do?

Question: As a personal tennis trainer in the UAE how much time do you think should be spent on doing stretching exercises?

I think that it’s right to perform stretching before and after each tennis lesson. To prevent injury and to be more flexible and quick on the court.

You should spend at least 15 minutes warming up and stretching to wake your body up and untie those knots, The key to all success is in the preparation, this include your body.

When to do the stretching exercises

Question: Is it important to do stretching exercises immediately before playing a game of tennis or can they be done some time beforehand?

Very Important. The muscles must be ready for training at this time, doing them too early will give them a time to cool down again and this will open the body up to injury.

Stretching should always be done immediately before the tennis session. If you would like to experience less stiffness, more flexibility, improved workouts and less injury then Stretching is a MUST.

The best stretching exercises for tennis players

Question: Stretching and flexibility exercises are good as a general fitness tool but do you think tennis players can improve their game playing skills by adding more stretching and flexibility exercises into their general fitness routine?

Of course, it goes without saying players can benefits from working loose those tight areas to help improve core, flexibility, endurance, speed, injury prevention and playing performance.

Question: For tennis players in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, or even those thinking about joining a tennis program, what are your top 5 stretching exercises and how do you feel they help your game play?

My top 5 stretches exercises are:

Hamstring stretches

Glute stretches

Quad stretch

Calf stretches

Hip flexor stretches

All of these exercises are designed to reduce the risk of injury and help to move faster and better on the court.