The Complete Warm-Up Guide for Padel Players

Most padel players walk onto the court, hit a few balls back and forth, and start the match. That's not a warm-up — that's a gamble.

Here's what the research tells us: a structured neuromuscular warm-up reduces sports injury rates by 36% (Ding et al., International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2022). That's more than one in three injuries prevented by spending 10 minutes doing the right things before you play.

I treat padel injuries every week in my clinic in Nicosia. Elbow pain, ankle sprains, shoulder problems — and the majority of them share a common thread: they happened in the first 15 minutes of play, to players who didn't warm up properly. Or at all.

This guide gives you a 10-minute protocol specifically designed for padel. It's based on the same principles used in validated injury prevention programmes like FIFA 11+ — which has been shown to reduce lower extremity injuries by 30-46% across multiple meta-analyses (Althomali et al., Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness, 2025).

Why Padel Players Need a Specific Warm-Up

Padel is not jogging. It's not even tennis. It's a unique combination of demands that your body needs to be prepared for:

• Explosive lateral movement. You're constantly changing direction on a hard court, loading your ankles and knees from multiple angles.
• Overhead shots. The bandeja, vibora, and smash require full shoulder range of motion under load — your rotator cuff needs to be activated before you start swinging.
• Quick direction changes. Padel rallies are fast and unpredictable. Your neuromuscular system needs to be primed for reactive movement.
• Repeated wrist and forearm loading. Every shot loads your wrist extensors. Without activation, you're putting cold tendons under stress from the first point.

Cold muscles and explosive movement is a recipe for injury. And no — hitting a few balls before the match doesn't count. That loads the same patterns without preparing the body for them.

What a Good Warm-Up Actually Does (The Science)

A proper warm-up isn't just "getting warm." It produces specific physiological changes that protect you:

• Increases muscle temperature — making muscle fibres more elastic and resistant to tearing
• Activates neuromuscular control — your muscles fire faster and more accurately when pre-activated
• Improves proprioception — your sense of joint position and balance, critical for ankle stability on the padel court
• Primes the nervous system — so your reaction time is sharp from the first point, not the fifth game

A landmark systematic review in the British Journal of Sports Medicine analysed 25 trials with over 26,000 participants and found that strength training reduced sports injuries to less than one-third, while stretching alone had no beneficial effect on injury prevention (Lauersen et al., 2014). The message is clear: your warm-up needs to include activation and strength work, not just stretching.

The Right Track Padel Warm-Up Protocol (10 Minutes)

This protocol covers four phases, moving from general to sport-specific. Do it before every session — matches and training.

The 3 Body Parts Padel Players Must Protect

Based on the injury epidemiology data from padel (Dahmen et al., BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine, 2023), these three areas are the most vulnerable — and each responds well to targeted prevention.

Shoulders

Overhead shots — the smash, bandeja, and vibora — put your shoulder through extreme ranges of motion under load. Without adequate rotator cuff activation, the smaller stabilising muscles can't protect the joint. A systematic review found that shoulder prevention programmes focusing on strengthening and flexibility exercises reduced shoulder injuries in overhead athletes by up to 78% (Wright et al., Physical Therapy in Sport, 2021).

Key exercise: Band external rotation before every session. 12 reps each arm, elbow pinned to your side at 90 degrees, rotating outward against resistance.

Ankles

Padel involves constant lateral movement on hard surfaces. Ankle sprains are among the most common padel injuries, and a history of previous sprain is the number one risk factor for another one. A meta-analysis found that proprioceptive training reduces ankle sprain rates by 35% (Schiftan et al., Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, 2015).

Key exercise: Single-leg balance holds — 30 seconds each foot. Progress to doing it with eyes closed, or on an unstable surface.

Elbows

The elbow is the number one injury site in padel. Cold forearm tendons + sudden grip loading = overload. The warm-up addresses this through wrist circles and forearm activation, but if you're already experiencing elbow pain, read our detailed guide: Padel Elbow: Causes, Prevention & Treatment.

Key exercise: Wrist extension isometric holds before playing. Press the back of your hand against a table for 30 seconds, 3 reps. This pre-activates the tendon and provides immediate analgesic effect (Rio et al., BJSM, 2015).

Static Stretching — Before or After?

This is one of the most persistent myths in sport: "you need to stretch before you play." The evidence says otherwise.

A comprehensive systematic review found that static stretching (holding a stretch for 30+ seconds) before exercise reduces performance by up to 3.7% — particularly in power and explosive movements, which is exactly what padel requires (Behm et al., 2016). Dynamic stretching, by contrast, improves performance by about 1.3%.

Before padel: Dynamic stretching only. Leg swings, arm circles, hip rotations, walking lunges. Movement through range, never holding.

After padel: Static stretching is fine — and beneficial for recovery. Hold each stretch for 30-45 seconds, focusing on the muscles you used most: calves, hip flexors, shoulders, and forearms.

The Post-Match Cool-Down (5 Minutes)

Most players skip this entirely. A brief cool-down helps your body transition from high-intensity activity and can reduce post-match stiffness.

• Light walk or jog — 1-2 minutes, gradually lowering intensity
• Static calf stretch — 30 seconds each leg, wall lean
• Hip flexor stretch — 30 seconds each side, half-kneeling
• Shoulder cross-body stretch — 30 seconds each arm
• Forearm extensor stretch — 30 seconds each arm, arm straight, palm down, gently pull fingers back
• Foam rolling (if available) — quads, IT band, calves, 30 seconds each

Frequently Asked Questions

How long should a padel warm-up take?

A proper padel warm-up should take 10-15 minutes. Research shows that even 10-minute neuromuscular warm-up programmes significantly reduce injury rates (Ding et al., 2022). The key is quality over quantity — a focused 10-minute protocol is far more effective than 20 minutes of casual ball hitting.

Should I stretch before playing padel?

Dynamic stretching (leg swings, hip circles, arm rotations) — yes, absolutely. Static stretching (holding a stretch for 30+ seconds) — no. A systematic review found that static stretching before exercise can reduce performance by up to 3.7%, while dynamic stretching improves it by 1.3% (Behm et al., 2016). Save static stretches for after the match.

Can warming up prevent padel elbow?

A warm-up alone won't prevent padel elbow, but it significantly reduces the risk. By activating the forearm muscles, increasing blood flow to the tendons, and preparing the wrist extensors for load, a proper warm-up reduces the shock of sudden impact. Combined with proper grip size, technique, and a conditioning programme, warming up is a key part of elbow injury prevention.

What's the best warm-up for early morning padel games?

Morning games require a slightly longer warm-up because your body temperature is lower and your muscles and tendons are stiffer after sleep. Add 2-3 extra minutes to the general activation phase — more light jogging and dynamic movement before progressing to sport-specific work. Don't rush straight into hard shots.

Do professional padel players warm up differently?

Professional padel players typically follow structured warm-up protocols that include general cardiovascular activation, dynamic mobility, band-based shoulder and hip activation, and sport-specific movement patterns before hitting any balls. The principles are the same as what we recommend — pros just execute them more consistently and thoroughly because they understand the cost of injury.

Sources & Further Reading

Antonis Petri, BSc, OMPT

Lead Clinician & Co-Founder at Right Track Physiotherapy. Clinical Practice Supervisor at Frederick University. A former amateur footballer with over a decade on the pitch, he specializes in sports rehabilitation and return-to-performance programs for athletes in Cyprus.