Most players walk on cold, lose the first game finding their feet, and call it rust. It is not rust. It is the missing warm-up. A good padel warm up takes about seven minutes, needs no equipment beyond the court you are already standing on, and does two things at once: it saves the ankle and the shoulder, and it means the first point is played at full speed rather than half of it.
The short version: Warm up for padel with about seven minutes of dynamic movement, not static stretching. Raise the pulse, mobilise the hips and shoulders, wake up the lateral muscles, then knock the ball up on court. Save the long static stretches for after the match.
How should you warm up before padel?
Warm up with movement, not stillness. Dynamic drills before you play, static stretches after. Two minutes to raise the heart rate, two to move the joints through their range, two to switch on the muscles padel actually uses, and a minute or two of easy hitting on court. Padel is a game of short sprints, hard stops and overhead reaches, so the warm-up should rehearse exactly those.
The old habit of standing on the baseline pulling a quad stretch does very little before a match, and can dull the muscle's power for the first few points. Research on racquet and team sports has landed on the same answer: dynamic warm-ups keep power intact while opening the range of motion, and pre-play routines that wake up the nervous system measurably cut lower-limb injuries. Save the long holds for when you are cooling down, when they help the body settle.
The seven-minute warm-up, minute by minute
Here is the routine, in the order the house runs it. None of it needs a gym, a band, or a coach. It fits in the time it takes your partners to lace up.
- Minutes 1 to 2, raise the pulse. Easy jog on the spot or along the tramline, then a few gentle shuttles side to side. You want warm, not winded. The point is blood in the muscle and a light sweat, the first honest sign the body is ready.
- Minutes 3 to 4, move the joints. Leg swings front and back, then across the body. Arm circles growing wider. Slow torso twists. Walking lunges with a reach. Big, unforced movements that take the hips, shoulders and spine through their full range.
- Minutes 5 to 6, wake the lateral muscles. Side shuffles, a few short accelerations and stops, two or three easy squats, and a handful of slow shadow swings, a forehand, a backhand, an overhead reach with no ball. This is the step most players skip, and it is the one that protects the ankle and the shoulder when the real rally starts.
- Minute 7 and beyond, knock it up. Onto the court. Soft rallies from the back, then move to the net for a few gentle volleys, then a couple of easy overheads. Feel the ball off the glass before it matters. By the time you serve for the first point, the racquet already feels like part of your arm.
The overhead is worth the extra thirty seconds. The bandeja and the smash load the shoulder hard, and a cold shoulder is the one that complains the next morning. A few slow reaches before you play spares you a fortnight of ice later. If those shots are still new to you, our guide to padel shots explained covers what your shoulder is about to be asked to do.
Why bother: what the warm-up prevents
Padel is kind on the body, but it is not injury-proof. A 2025 survey of recreational padel players found that most had picked up at least one injury at some point, and around half of all injuries were to the lower limbs. The usual sites read like a list of the things a warm-up protects: the elbow, the ankle, the knee and the shoulder. Most were tendon and muscle strains, the kind that a cold start invites and a few honest minutes of movement help avoid.
The mechanism is not mysterious. Cold muscle is stiff muscle, and stiff muscle tears when you lunge for a low ball or stretch for an overhead in the first minute. Warm muscle lengthens, absorbs, and holds. The warm-up is not a ritual for its own sake. It is the cheapest insurance in the game, and it doubles as preparation: a warm player reads the ball earlier and moves cleaner from the first point. For the fuller picture, read how to avoid padel injuries.
Warming up in the Bukit heat
Uluwatu changes the maths a little. In the heat of the Bukit the body warms faster, so the pulse-raiser can be shorter, but the joints still need their full range and hydration starts before the warm-up, not during the match. Drink water in the half hour before you play, not just when you are already thirsty on court.
The hour matters too. Play the cool of the early morning or late afternoon and the warm-up is a pleasure. Play at midday in the dry season and even a warm body struggles, and you spend more time with the water than the ball. Follow the shade, keep the routine, and let the afternoon do the rest. The clubs worth their salt across the peninsula are built around exactly these hours, mapped in our guide to where to play padel in Uluwatu.
The warm-up, the match, the drink after
At the Azoria Padel Club, the seven-minute warm-up is not something squeezed in before the real thing. It is the opening of the afternoon. The clay-coloured courts sit on the cliff, west-facing, and the day has a shape older than the sport: the warm-up, the long match, the longer drink after. New players find the routine sooner with a coach, and the Azoria Padel Academy builds it into the first sessions, so good habits arrive before bad ones can.
When the match is done, the warm-up has a mirror image. The static stretches you saved, a little length through the hips and shoulders, then water, shade, and something cold. On a longer day, the sauna and ice bath take over where the stretching leaves off. More on that in recovery after padel. The game is played in the middle. The warm-up and the recovery are the quiet bookends that let you play it again tomorrow.
Frequently asked questions
How long should you warm up before padel?
About seven to ten minutes is enough for social play. Spend it on dynamic movement and a short knock-up on court, rather than long static stretches, which are better kept for after the match.
Should you stretch before playing padel?
Do dynamic stretches before, not static ones. Leg swings, arm circles, lunges and shadow swings prepare the body without dulling its power. Save the long-held static stretches for your cool-down, when they help the muscles settle.
What are the most common padel injuries?
Most padel injuries are strains of the lower limbs, along with the elbow and shoulder. Studies of recreational players find the ankle, knee, elbow and shoulder are the usual sites, most of them tendon and muscle injuries that a proper warm-up helps prevent.
Do you need to warm up for a social game of padel?
Yes. A friendly game still involves sudden sprints, stops and overhead shots from the first point. A few minutes of movement protects the ankle and shoulder and, as a bonus, means you play the opening game at full speed.
How do you warm up your shoulder for padel?
Slow arm circles, cross-body swings, and a handful of easy overhead reaches with no ball, followed by a few gentle smashes during the knock-up. The overhead shots load the shoulder hardest, so it is the joint most worth a minute of care.
The first serve is only as good as the seven minutes before it. Give the game those minutes and it gives you the afternoon.
Further reading
- Injury profiles for recreational padel players, a 2025 survey on where and how often the game hurts players.
- Neuromuscular warm-ups and lower-limb injury, a systematic review on why a good warm-up works.
- International Padel Federation, the global game, its rules and its calendar.
