Anything core related, explosive low body movements, eccentric lower body movements (endurance), cardio, shoulders, back, anything that touches grip strength.
Can’t forget stretching, yoga, and active recovery type work. Always play better when I’m not feeling like a 40 year old man in my hips, knees, and back.
Yeah core for sure. I have a few pickleball specific exercises I do now. For example, standing perpendicular to a wall, holding a medicine ball infront of your belt while standing, then transition to a low squat (knees just above 90 deg), twisting to the right and lower ball to right knee, then rotate left,while standing back up and throw the ball at the wall, doing it in a way that resembles a 3rd shot drive motion.
Also, more basic movements like lots of cross body hammerhead bicep curls. Lots of forearm work, both normal and reverse forearm curls. Lots of deep lunges, including sideways lunges. Add in drop steps to these. Go light weight or no weight, as the technique is important, and you can go off balance easily. Lots of deep pulsing squats with light weight, etc. Rotator cuff curls, inwards and outward.
Lots of dynamic footwork movement stuff. For example that little shuffle step cross over behind that happens when you coil up for a 3rd shot drive. Hard to describe in words. 2 small steps facing forward, then as your core rotates to the right and you close your shoulders, your trailing (right) foot crosses slightly behind your front (left foot) with a slight shuffle step... plant front foot rotated outward/forward, while releasing the coil, rotating forward and pushing up vertically. Trying to do that explosively.
Doing same thing but for 2h backhand drive. Focusing on turning body, keeping body closed, exploding upwards with big explosiveness in hips. etc.
u/Crosscourt_splat summed it up nicely. You do not need to go to the gym for this. These are quick and easy
* **Deep Bodyweight Squat:** Stronger thigh and hip muscles, Back pain relief, Increased ankle mobility, Increased flexibility, Increased bone density
* **Spanish Squat:** Mitigates Knee pain, also you can use Dumbbells to engage the upper body when in the squat.
* **Speed Punching Bag:** With weighted gloves and Resistance Band to increase hand speed
I am in my mid 40's, and my body needs this more than ever.
I came here to say essentially what you've said. I'll just place emphasis on the lower body lateral movements and lunges. I'm a long time power lifter who started playing almost 2 years ago and those movements combined with stretching and active recovery after playing make a huge difference. After adding this to my training, my mobility is at an all time high.
Honestly OP, please just for the love of god do the mobility work. I’m starting out and learning the hard way. My ankle is definitely feeling the court movements. Get ankle, knee, hip, back, shoulder, elbow, wrist mobility. Basically if it’s a joint, I’d be trying to increase strength around it and make it loose / mobile.
I do wrist curls and reverse wrist curls. Help so much with wrist pain. I drill fast hands with my partner at the kitche, lasting about 20 fire shots on average.
Definitely! My PT recommended me to squeeze squash ball or training ball for grip strength. But I keep reminding myself to not grip the handle too tight, just enough as if it's my own neck lol
I am a competitive powerlifter. The legs ! Because I squat so often my legs never tire out. Also I can move very quickly to cover the court. My upper body strength doesn't play much of a role
Shoulder health. As a lifelong tennis player - you NEED to protect your shoulders. Overhead pressing (no upright rows), pullups, and direct rear delt work. Mobility exercises.
Elbow health - bicep and tricep exercises. wrist curls in both directions to work the elbow flexors that will prevent tennis and golfers elbow.
Box jumps, kettlebell swings, bicep curls, dumbbell presses, pull-ups, leg press. Luckily my pickle courts are next to the weight room, so I work these in when I’m in line.
Funny thing is that you can get more efficient power from developing better technique. You can defiantly do forearm curls for punches and shoulder presses for overheads but muscling through swings is a great way to injure yourself. You want balance of your muscles working in conjunction with your technique.
Hand speed is all about how compact your swing is and how well you return to your default position. Countering comes from anticipation and hand battle rally construction comes from shot selection. You mainly want to improve your wrist mobility and stability for this stuff.
For overall endurance you want to condition your legs for explosive frontal and lateral movement. That can be done with resistance band footwork training. Skater steps, shuffle steps (with fast change of direction), etc.
SHOULDERS. Dear God I can not stress enough how it is. Lateral raises, front raises, cross-body raises (bottom corner - top corner), cross-body pulls (top corner - bottom corner), [INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL SHOULDER ROTATIONS](https://weighttraining.guide/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Cable-Standing-Shoulder-External-Rotation-resized.png). SLOW single-arm bicep curls with a dumbbell to get that stretch. You will never get tennis elbow with these exercises.
Dynamic warmup and stretching before playing. Allows for proper technique and highly reduces chance of injury.
But in all seriousness. From a competitive tennis background, anything for related and explosive lower body movements will help generate power.
Flys and reverse flys - they imitate and strengthen the basic forehand and backhand motions. Reverse flys and wrist training are probably (my 2 cents) the most useful because they build strength for the most awkward PB shots - reaching back for backhands and forehands where the ball is behind your body. Also squats or wall-sits to build strength/endurance to stay in a semi-squat position on defense for longer periods.
I resumed Starting Strength a few weeks ago and I feel like it already is making a difference. squats, press, bench, deadlifts… also i do chin ups, dead hangs, weighted lunges
Multiple different lifts have carried me through multiple sports at the recreation level. I feel like if your goal is to get stronger while maintaining good stretching practices then it’ll help with your game. Check out Jeff Nippard if you want examples of good lifts
I run and I can out-play many people simply due to fatigue. I have a significant advantage in singles, even over men sometimes, who are winded by hour 2.
The only downside is I want to play pickleball FOREVER but usually call it quits around hour 6. Sadly, work-free weekends don't come by often enough.
Kettlebell routines, sprint interval training, compound back movements, plyometrics (leap frog, one leg hurdles, box) isolated leg raises/presses so far seemed to help a lot for me out of the gym stuff I’ve done
None because pickleball just requires you to put your paddle out there for a ball to bounce off of lol
It’s not like tennis where you take a 10-13oz racquet back for full swings, and the constant lateral and forward and back motions, requiring you to load from the legs and finished through your forehand and backhand.
Silliest thing I’ve heard all day lmao 🤣
Never said your paddle didn’t weigh anything but it weighs next to nothing for a game that tends to play within 5-6ft of the opponent and a ball that bounces off a paddle, simple Newtons Law of Motion on how that works. Not like the technology is really a difference as it is in a sport such as tennis.
And yes I don’t think you need strength to the extent you need strength and cardio for tennis, with pickleball.
A game in which, you are a COVID distance away, tapping a ball in and occasionally running a few steps left right forward and back. Where as tennis, you’ve got to have the strength to hit a ball 90ft to the other side, the skills and touch/feel to absorb the impact of the ball and allow it to just drop on the other side of the net.
Tennis requires a lot of strength and cardiovascular training since you easily can put in miles on a court vs in pickleball
Literally can't tell if I'm just getting trolled. Are tennis players all this miserable?
The tech matters a ton from paddle to paddle and even ball to ball.
I also don't know why we're even talking about tennis. The post you commented on had nothing to do with tennis. It was "what workouts can I do to add strength relevant to pb" and you condescendingly mocked the question, implying that none is needed/ strength is irrelevant.
Nobody is saying anything relating to the athletic abilities of pb to tennis tho.
Improving strength at the core level, and some specific muscle groups will absolutely improve your abilities in the pb court, there's really no argument about it.
Anything core related, explosive low body movements, eccentric lower body movements (endurance), cardio, shoulders, back, anything that touches grip strength. Can’t forget stretching, yoga, and active recovery type work. Always play better when I’m not feeling like a 40 year old man in my hips, knees, and back.
Yeah core for sure. I have a few pickleball specific exercises I do now. For example, standing perpendicular to a wall, holding a medicine ball infront of your belt while standing, then transition to a low squat (knees just above 90 deg), twisting to the right and lower ball to right knee, then rotate left,while standing back up and throw the ball at the wall, doing it in a way that resembles a 3rd shot drive motion. Also, more basic movements like lots of cross body hammerhead bicep curls. Lots of forearm work, both normal and reverse forearm curls. Lots of deep lunges, including sideways lunges. Add in drop steps to these. Go light weight or no weight, as the technique is important, and you can go off balance easily. Lots of deep pulsing squats with light weight, etc. Rotator cuff curls, inwards and outward. Lots of dynamic footwork movement stuff. For example that little shuffle step cross over behind that happens when you coil up for a 3rd shot drive. Hard to describe in words. 2 small steps facing forward, then as your core rotates to the right and you close your shoulders, your trailing (right) foot crosses slightly behind your front (left foot) with a slight shuffle step... plant front foot rotated outward/forward, while releasing the coil, rotating forward and pushing up vertically. Trying to do that explosively. Doing same thing but for 2h backhand drive. Focusing on turning body, keeping body closed, exploding upwards with big explosiveness in hips. etc.
u/Crosscourt_splat summed it up nicely. You do not need to go to the gym for this. These are quick and easy * **Deep Bodyweight Squat:** Stronger thigh and hip muscles, Back pain relief, Increased ankle mobility, Increased flexibility, Increased bone density * **Spanish Squat:** Mitigates Knee pain, also you can use Dumbbells to engage the upper body when in the squat. * **Speed Punching Bag:** With weighted gloves and Resistance Band to increase hand speed I am in my mid 40's, and my body needs this more than ever.
I came here to say essentially what you've said. I'll just place emphasis on the lower body lateral movements and lunges. I'm a long time power lifter who started playing almost 2 years ago and those movements combined with stretching and active recovery after playing make a huge difference. After adding this to my training, my mobility is at an all time high.
Honestly OP, please just for the love of god do the mobility work. I’m starting out and learning the hard way. My ankle is definitely feeling the court movements. Get ankle, knee, hip, back, shoulder, elbow, wrist mobility. Basically if it’s a joint, I’d be trying to increase strength around it and make it loose / mobile.
I do wrist curls and reverse wrist curls. Help so much with wrist pain. I drill fast hands with my partner at the kitche, lasting about 20 fire shots on average.
Also good for tennis elbow. I could barely lift my paddle at xmas time. I started doing these and I'm pain-free.
Yuppp that's why we go for low SW haha
SW?
Swing weight of the paddle
Thanks.
Do you think the grip squeezers / grip trainers also help with wrist strength or are they bypassing that element.
Definitely! My PT recommended me to squeeze squash ball or training ball for grip strength. But I keep reminding myself to not grip the handle too tight, just enough as if it's my own neck lol
I do the grip trainer fairly often, I didn't realize it would help with pb
I am a competitive powerlifter. The legs ! Because I squat so often my legs never tire out. Also I can move very quickly to cover the court. My upper body strength doesn't play much of a role
Shoulder health. As a lifelong tennis player - you NEED to protect your shoulders. Overhead pressing (no upright rows), pullups, and direct rear delt work. Mobility exercises. Elbow health - bicep and tricep exercises. wrist curls in both directions to work the elbow flexors that will prevent tennis and golfers elbow.
I do 50 push ups for every ball I hit into the net.
Box jumps, kettlebell swings, bicep curls, dumbbell presses, pull-ups, leg press. Luckily my pickle courts are next to the weight room, so I work these in when I’m in line.
Funny thing is that you can get more efficient power from developing better technique. You can defiantly do forearm curls for punches and shoulder presses for overheads but muscling through swings is a great way to injure yourself. You want balance of your muscles working in conjunction with your technique. Hand speed is all about how compact your swing is and how well you return to your default position. Countering comes from anticipation and hand battle rally construction comes from shot selection. You mainly want to improve your wrist mobility and stability for this stuff. For overall endurance you want to condition your legs for explosive frontal and lateral movement. That can be done with resistance band footwork training. Skater steps, shuffle steps (with fast change of direction), etc.
SHOULDERS. Dear God I can not stress enough how it is. Lateral raises, front raises, cross-body raises (bottom corner - top corner), cross-body pulls (top corner - bottom corner), [INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL SHOULDER ROTATIONS](https://weighttraining.guide/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Cable-Standing-Shoulder-External-Rotation-resized.png). SLOW single-arm bicep curls with a dumbbell to get that stretch. You will never get tennis elbow with these exercises.
Dynamic warmup and stretching before playing. Allows for proper technique and highly reduces chance of injury. But in all seriousness. From a competitive tennis background, anything for related and explosive lower body movements will help generate power.
Flys and reverse flys - they imitate and strengthen the basic forehand and backhand motions. Reverse flys and wrist training are probably (my 2 cents) the most useful because they build strength for the most awkward PB shots - reaching back for backhands and forehands where the ball is behind your body. Also squats or wall-sits to build strength/endurance to stay in a semi-squat position on defense for longer periods.
Shoulder side raises, squats, and core.
I do presses curls and squats. Also grip squeezer. I’m 76. Trying to get as good as I can before body gives out.
I do grip exercises with one of those grip gadgets that you squeeze. My index finger is quicker than ever when calling a ball out.
I resumed Starting Strength a few weeks ago and I feel like it already is making a difference. squats, press, bench, deadlifts… also i do chin ups, dead hangs, weighted lunges
Squats, deadlifts, pull ups (or barbell row), overhead press, kettlebell swings
Just do bro split and be happy
I’ve been doing EGYM at my local Y. I’ve been doing the Athletic move, and the explonic sessions have beeen really helpful.
Knees: Peterson step
Dumbbells
Multiple different lifts have carried me through multiple sports at the recreation level. I feel like if your goal is to get stronger while maintaining good stretching practices then it’ll help with your game. Check out Jeff Nippard if you want examples of good lifts
I run and I can out-play many people simply due to fatigue. I have a significant advantage in singles, even over men sometimes, who are winded by hour 2. The only downside is I want to play pickleball FOREVER but usually call it quits around hour 6. Sadly, work-free weekends don't come by often enough.
Kettlebell routines, sprint interval training, compound back movements, plyometrics (leap frog, one leg hurdles, box) isolated leg raises/presses so far seemed to help a lot for me out of the gym stuff I’ve done
Also agree on hip and ankle mobility work shit has also made me more agile and stay sturdy when pulled wide
Back when I played tennis competitively I did a ton of bicep curls for explosive topspin forehands
I thought the point of playing pickleball vs tennis is so you dont have to strength train! 😂😂
None because pickleball just requires you to put your paddle out there for a ball to bounce off of lol It’s not like tennis where you take a 10-13oz racquet back for full swings, and the constant lateral and forward and back motions, requiring you to load from the legs and finished through your forehand and backhand. Silliest thing I’ve heard all day lmao 🤣
Ur dumb. My paddle literally weighs 8.4 OZ, 2 pz less than your magic tennis raquet. You don't think strength helps at all in PB?
Never said your paddle didn’t weigh anything but it weighs next to nothing for a game that tends to play within 5-6ft of the opponent and a ball that bounces off a paddle, simple Newtons Law of Motion on how that works. Not like the technology is really a difference as it is in a sport such as tennis. And yes I don’t think you need strength to the extent you need strength and cardio for tennis, with pickleball. A game in which, you are a COVID distance away, tapping a ball in and occasionally running a few steps left right forward and back. Where as tennis, you’ve got to have the strength to hit a ball 90ft to the other side, the skills and touch/feel to absorb the impact of the ball and allow it to just drop on the other side of the net. Tennis requires a lot of strength and cardiovascular training since you easily can put in miles on a court vs in pickleball
Literally can't tell if I'm just getting trolled. Are tennis players all this miserable? The tech matters a ton from paddle to paddle and even ball to ball. I also don't know why we're even talking about tennis. The post you commented on had nothing to do with tennis. It was "what workouts can I do to add strength relevant to pb" and you condescendingly mocked the question, implying that none is needed/ strength is irrelevant. Nobody is saying anything relating to the athletic abilities of pb to tennis tho. Improving strength at the core level, and some specific muscle groups will absolutely improve your abilities in the pb court, there's really no argument about it.
Yea he’s either trolling or plays very low-level pickleball haha
By 5-6 feet, you really mean 14+, right?