A yoga teacher who works with people who play racket sports recommends this four-move routine to boost mobility and aid recovery
Keep your spine and shoulders rally-ready with this gentle flow
Most racket sport enthusiasts follow the same routine.
They lace up their trainers, smash a few balls from the baseline, jump into a full-blooded hour or more of tennis, padel or pickleball, then retire to the clubhouse for liquid refreshment.
What's missing? An effective warm-up or restorative cool down that will ensure they can keep doing what they love, week after week.
As we get older, it becomes harder for our bodies to simply pick up where we left off. The same is true for the soccer pitch, the driving range or the batting cage.
And it's something I've felt first-hand after an action-packed vacation with Neilson Active Holidays.
Rotating from the tennis court to padel to pickleball at the five-star Neilson x Mangia's Torre del Barone resort in Sicily left my shoulders and lower back feeling especially tender.
"It's really important to maintain your core and your posture for all racket sports," says Carla Gibert, a certified yoga instructor working with Neilson.
"The shoulders are also really important for tennis," she adds. "I see a lot of people aggravate their shoulders because they simply haven't maintained strength and mobility."
One solution, she says, would be to simply perform a plank exercise daily, adding some scapular retractions to maintain mobility.
Another option is to perform a four-move spine and shoulder mobility routine before and after time on the court.
Having used this drill after two days of back-to-back serves and volleys, not to mention countless smashes out of the court or into the net, I can vouch for it.
How to do this mobility routine
Gibert says you can use this routine to warm-up up for a match, as well as recover afterwards. You just need to adjust the timings.
Before, she suggests cycling through the four exercises two to three times, spending 30 seconds on each, while keeping movements dynamic to prepare for the in-game action.
After, she recommends slowing the tempo right down, performing each move once but spending around three minutes on each stretch.
"That will really help open up your fascia—the layer of tissue that surrounds your muscles—that can get a bit dehydrated after exercise," she explains.
"You see so much more progress if you hold the stretch for longer. It can also be quite meditative and relaxing, triggering the same kind of recovery benefits as having a good night's sleep."
Here is the sequence of four moves that Gilbert recommends.
1. Child's pose (Balasana)
How to do it:
- Start on your hands and knees with your knees slightly wider than hip-width apart and your big toes touching.
- Sit your hips back toward your heels.
- Walk your hands forward on the floor, arms extended.
- Gently lower your chest toward the mat, lowering your forehead toward the floor.
- Relax your shoulders away from your ears and let your torso soften between your thighs.
- Breathe slowly into your sides and back, feeling your ribs expand with each inhale and soften with each exhale.
- Once the time is up, slowly walk your hands back and lift your torso with control.
2. Downward-facing dog (Adho mukha svanasana)
How to do it:
- Get on your hands and knees, with your wrists under your shoulders, knees under your hips, and your spine neutral.
- Tuck your toes under so you can press your upper foot into the floor and lift your knees and hips up to form an inverted V-shape with your body.
- If your hamstrings feel tight, keep a slight bend in your knees, focusing on lifting your hips and creating length through your back rather than forcing your heels down.
- Press through your hands, keeping your arms straight, to create separation between your ears and shoulders, and length in your spine.
- Breathe slowly and steadily, then gently lower your knees back down to the mat to come out of the position with control.
3. Cobra (Bhujangasana)
How to do it:
- Lie face down on the floor with your legs straight and the tops of your feet pressing into the floor.
- Place your hands beside your lower ribs with your elbows bent and tucked close to your sides.
- Press through your hands to straighten your arms, lifting your chest and torso.
- At the same time, roll your shoulders down and back to open the front of your chest.
- Lengthen your spine and keep your neck long with your gaze straight ahead.
- If you feel a sharp pinch in your lower back, bend your arms to bring your chest closer to the floor.
- Breathe slowly and steadily for the allotted time, then gently release by lowering your torso and bending your elbows to come back down to the mat.
4. Thread the needle (Urdhva mukha pasasana)
How to do it:
- Get on your hands and knees, with your wrists under your shoulders, knees under your hips, and your spine neutral.
- Reach your left hand out to your left side and rotate your upper body to the left raise your left arm as high as you can manage.
- Reverse the movements, and thread your left hand to your right side, moving it between right wrist and right knee.
- As you bring your arm under your body, slide your hand along the floor and lower your left shoulder and the left side of your head to the mat.
- Keep your hips stacked over your knees while your torso gently rotates, feeling a comfortable twist through your upper back and the back of the shoulder.
- Keep the supporting hand on the floor for balance—you can press lightly into it or walk it a little further forward to deepen the stretch.
- Breathe slowly and evenly, then press into your supporting hand to unwind back into tabletop, and repeat on the other side.
Carla Gibert is a fitness instructor and certified Pilates and yoga teacher. Having completed her 200-hour certification (RYT 200), the internationally-recognized qualification required to teach yoga, she is trained in anatomy, asana alignment, teaching methodology and breathing techniques. She is currently working with Neilson Active Holidays at the Neilson x Mangia's Torre del Barone Resort in Sicily.
