Stretching Guide for Tennis Players

Sore and stiff after a long session of tennis?

You’re not alone.

But how often do you stretch afterward? Stretching is easy to push off (and keep pushing off) until we grunt to tie our shoes or our backs feel stiff as a board.

🎾 How stretching benefits your tennis and overall health

⌚The best time to stretch

🧘🏼‍♀️ A stretching routine before and after you play

Tennis uses the entire body.

We’re running, we’re swinging, we’re changing direction on a moment’s notice. Some of us even slide to get to the ball—that takes incredible flexibility and mobility.

Flexibility is our muscle’s ability to lengthen without engagement, like when we touch our toes.

Mobility is our joints’ ability to move through their full range of motion, such as arm circles or leg swings.

Flexibility and mobility are interconnected. For us to be mobile, we need to be flexible. That’s a big reason why yoga is so popular—it includes dynamic, moving stretches and poses that work on flexibility, strength, and stability.

Another reason to start stretching is because it can help prevent injuries.

Tennis elbow and shoulder issues are common injuries that plague tennis players—much of which is caused by overuse and wonky technique.

Maximized performance during matches

Better posture and reduced joint and back pain

Improved muscular balance

More sustained energy throughout the day

Adds more years to your tennis career (just look at Novak Djokovic)

The best time to stretch is when your muscles are warmed up. This is when your muscles are most relaxed, allowing you to stretch further than if you were to hop out of bed and begin stretching.

A 5-minute warmup before playing tennis

Finishing a strength or cardio workout

Playing tennis

Take 2 to 3 laps around the perimeter of the court to get your heart rate up and muscles loose. Then, you can move into these dynamic stretches.

Stand on a doubles sideline. You’ll be going from one sideline to the other for each exercise:

Tip-toe walks

Heel walks

Arm circles

Arm hugs

Lunges with core rotation

Butt kicks

High knees

Squat walks

And you can end the dynamic stretches with movements that mimic tennis, like side shuffles, backpedals, or sprinting.

Once you’ve hit your opponent off the court, it’s time to reward yourself with static stretching. Hold each movement below for 30-60 seconds:

Supine twists

Calf/Achilles tendon stretch

Forearm stretch

Cross-body arm stretch

Triceps stretch

Quad stretch

Hamstring stretch

Hip flexors stretch

Here at the Tennis Workout Lab, we believe in playing tennis longer by incorporating strength, stamina, and, of course, flexibility. Feel free to try these stretches the next time you’re on the court!