We demo six tennis exercises that can be used as part of your warm-up for tennis injury prevention or for final stage rehab when coming back from injury. Remember, if you need more help with an injury, you're welcome to consult one of our physios online via video call.
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The challenge with tennis exercises
There’s no tried-and-tested injury prevention programme for tennis. However, in some other sports, such as football/soccer, there are very well-researched injury prevention programmes.
One such programme is the FIFA 11+ warm-up, which has been shown to reduce injuries significantly. Some of the movements and physical requirements in football/soccer are quite similar to those of tennis, e.g. changing direction quickly, knee stability, hip stability, and balance. Therefore, I have taken the exercises in the programme and tweaked some of them to make them more tennis specific.
The exercises can be used as a dynamic tennis warm-up for injury prevention (aka prehab). They can also be used as final preparation for returning to the tennis court after having recovered from an injury.
Who should do these exercises?
Tennis warm-up / injury prevention
Some of these exercises are challenging, so please don't do them if this is not the level of exercise that you are already used to. Ideally, you will have been doing some exercises similar to this already.
Tennis injury rehab
If you have an injury or you're returning from an injury, you ought to seek professional healthcare guidance to get an accurate diagnosis and advice on what to do instead of blindly following the exercises below. These exercises are to help people with ideas if they are already going through rehab under a supervised programme.
And importantly, none of these exercises should cause you pain during or after you’ve done them.
Single-leg balance
Footballers need good balance, but unlike you, they don’t also have to swing a racket while balancing. So, get your racket out!
This exercise can help to prevent overuse tennis injuries related to alignment issues, but also more severe injuries, such as ACL sprains.
Instructions:
Alternate between standing on your front leg and back leg and between forehand and backhand strokes.
While doing this, keep your hips still and your knee over and in line with your foot and toes.
Don’t allow your knee to excessively rotate or bend inwards – it is normal to move a bit from side to side.
Do about 30 seconds per leg and repeat 2 or 3 times per leg.
Glutes / lateral stability
Pushing your knee outwards against a resistance band to keep it in line with your foot will add strength and stability to your glute muscles. This will help you to change direction quicker and also to keep a good alignment at your knee when you are changing direction.
Instructions:
Same as for the previous exercise (especially the hip and knee alignment) but standing on both feet.
Do 30 seconds of forehands and backhands, rest a bit, and repeat 2 to 3 times for each type.
Balance and core stability
This one will help to improve your balance and stability when you're on court.
Instructions:
Put your front foot on a BOSU or wobble cushion and bend your knee about 90 degrees. You can also put your foot on a foam roller (placed at a right angle to your foot).
Your back leg should be almost straight and only the toes of the foot should touch the floor.
For beginners, just rotate your upper body while trying to keep your balance. A more advanced version is to play forehands and backhands with your racket.
Your hips, knees, and feet should face forwards all the time.
Keep each side’s hip, knee, and foot aligned.
Do 30 seconds for each leg.
Do 2 to 3 times on each leg.
Plank variations (core)
From here on, the exercises are exactly the same as in the FIFA 11+ programme, so you won’t need your racket.
The plank exercise strengthens your core.
Instructions:
Lie face down on the floor.
Raise yourself up so that you are only supported on your toes and forearms, with your upper arms vertical.
Keep your body straight (like a plank!).
Hold for 20 to 30 seconds.
Do 2 to 3 reps.
You can make this more difficult by:
lifting your legs up alternately
and even more difficult by lifting up one leg and holding that position.
Side plank (core / lateral stability)
The side plank also strengthens your core and adds lateral stability.
Instructions:
Lie on your side on the floor.
Bend your bottom leg’s knee to about 90 degrees.
Raise yourself up so that you are only supported on your bottom leg (from the knee downwards) and on your forearm, with its upper arm vertical.
Keep your body straight.
Hold for 20 to 30 seconds.
Switch sides.
Do 2 to 3 reps on each side.
You can make this one more difficult by:
supporting yourself on your bottom foot (leg straight) instead of the knee, which is the full side plank.
Next, you can go up and down with your hips in the full side plank position.
And the most challenging side plank is raising and lowering the leg that’s on top in the full side plank position.
Nordic hamstring curls
These are to reduce the risk of hamstring strain. It’s a high-level exercise, so only do these if you already have strong hamstrings.
Instructions:
Get on your knees, body upright, and have your feet hooked underneath something sturdy or get someone to hold them down.
Lower your body forwards slowly, keeping your hips and back straight and your stomach muscles tightened.
Put a chair in front of you so that you can catch yourself if you can’t control the movement all the way to the floor.
Do between 5 (beginner) and 15 (advanced) reps depending on your fitness and strength.
Do 1 set.
How often?
You can do these tennis warm-up exercises twice a week, preferably not on consecutive days.
How we can help
Need more help with your injury? You’re welcome to consult one of the team at SIP online via video call for an assessment of your injury and a tailored treatment plan.
We're all UK Chartered Physiotherapists with Master’s Degrees related to Sports & Exercise Medicine or at least 10 years' experience in the field. But at Sports Injury Physio we don't just value qualifications; all of us also have a wealth of experience working with athletes across a broad variety of sports, ranging from recreationally active people to professional athletes. You can meet the team here.
About the Author
Steph is a chartered physiotherapist with more than 15 years' experience and a Master’s Degree in Sports and Exercise Medicine. You can read more about her here, and she's also on LinkedIn.