Warm-Ups from Hell
By David Kjeldsen

The new platform tennis season has arrived. League play and tournaments have started. It’s a good time to discuss “warm-ups”.

As any doctor will tell you, it is very important to stretch your muscles and get your body warmed up prior to any strenuous exercise.  No one wants to get a strained muscle because they didn’t prepare properly.

That said,  I know we all have had the opponents who take warm-ups too far. Yes, you have probably been there: the warm-up from hell.

It’s late in the morning and two teams finish playing matches about  the same time. Based on the draw it is determined each will be playing the other. Rather than go for lunch, it is decided to go right back out on the courts to play. One team is raring to go, the other wants to proceed with a 20 minute warm-up. A quick few hits of the ball wouldn’t do? You just played a three set match, how much more warmed-up do you have to be?

What about the folks who have to “win” the warm-up? You know the type. Every shot they take during the warm-up has to be a winner. Forget about getting muscles stretched, it’s all about showing the opponent who has got the best the shots and starting the mental intimidation early.

Ever been in the situation where 3 out of 4 players are ready to go and the decision is made to go out and start warming up? The players are hitting (and waiting) for 10 minutes before the fourth finally shows up. After the perfunctory “I’m sorry I’m late”,  the latecomer insists on stretching, hitting a dozen forehands, a dozen backhands, a dozen serves, “Oh, could you hit me some back screen – side screen shots”, et cetera, and 20 minutes later everyone is finally ready to begin the contest.

We all have warm-up horror stories. What is yours?

I am reminded of the 1992 National Championships held on Long Island. There was a relatively new player to the game that was asked to “command a hut” at the John Burn’s Town Park in Massapequa. The woman, while active in the town park platform scene, had never participated in a regional much less national tournament before. She attended a hut commander’s meeting prior to Nationals where all the volunteers received instructions from the tournament director. One of the instructions was that players should be allowed only five minutes for on court warm-ups. When the first match of the day went out to the courts, the commander brought the teams together at center court and reminded them of the five minute rule. She then retrieved a stop watch and whistle from her pocket. She blew her whistle, started the stop watch, and informed the teams to commence warm-ups. After five minutes she blew the whistle again, she instructed the players to stop warm-ups, she collected the second warm-up ball on the court, and she instructed the players to start their match. The players were dumb struck but followed her directions nonetheless. There were lots of whistles blown that day, but the Massapequa venue was the only location to finish on schedule and no one reported any muscle strains.

Let me know what you think the proper etiquette is for warm-ups. How long should a warm-up last? Should practice serves be taken during warm-up or before each person’s first service rotation? Do you need two new balls for warm-up, or one new and one used? Should players do their stretching before going out to the courts or while on the court with the opposing team?

what do you think? let me know! info@platformtennisnews.com

Click HERE to Return to November ’s articles