Tournament warm-up

Carl Hughes Asked 8 years ago

Greetings coaches and fellow community members,

With all the incoming tournament activity upcoming for me, a question that popped into my mind was: which of these two situations would be more optimized for a warm up before the tournament starts?

Would it be better to warm up for about 20-30 mins immediately before the tournament starts? Or it it better if I warmed up about an hour or more earlier, then rested for the last 30 mins before the tournament starts?

The first situation is better in terms of ensuring that I am literally "warmed up" and ready to play, however, the second seems to give an edge since you would have warmed up and taken a rest to ensure you aren't slightly tired during your matches. Meanwhile, I've been told that resting after warming up before a tourney would actually be a bad thing since it would reduce back your adrenaline level and make you even more tired that if you were to warm up right before the tourney.

Please do tell me from your experiences which of these two situations would best be suited for a pre-tournament warm up.

Much appreciated,

-Carl H

Alois Rosario Answered 8 years ago

Hi Carl,

Players are different.  They are both very legitimate options.  I used to like to warm up earlier and then take time to sit and think about the upcoming match.  Work through tactics in my head and focus on relaxation and mental preparation.  In the 5 minutes before a match I would do some physical warm ups to make sure the body was warm and then in the 2 minutes warm up I would get very active.

In a big tournament, adrenaline is not something you need more of.  It is usually more  matter of remaining calm.

However, some players like the feeling of being really warm when they hit the first ball by going straight into a match from their warm up.

You need to try both a few times and see which feels better.