Padel warm-ups and injury prevention

Timed five and ten minute padel warm-ups, a cool-down, and simple routines for padel elbow, shoulders, knees and calves, with when to see a physio.

Five-minute court warm-up

For when the court before yours runs late: a fast, complete warm-up that gets legs, shoulders and touch ready in five minutes.

The full warm-up before a match or a lesson: raise your heart rate, move every joint you will use, then find your touch before you hit hard.

Eight minutes to get warm before strength or conditioning work off the court.

Seven minutes after the last point: bring your heart rate down and stretch what padel tightens most.

Pain on the outside of the elbow is common in padel, often from a tight grip, late contact on backhands or a sudden jump in how much you play.

Overheads and serves load the shoulder again and again. A little strength work for the small muscles that steady it goes a long way.

Padel is full of short sprints, lunges and quick stops. Strong hips and thighs protect the knee, and good shoes do the rest.

All that time on your toes loads the calves and the Achilles tendon, more so on hard courts and in hot weather.