A pickleball warm-up: what the evidence says
Does warming up before pickleball prevent injuries?
By Pickleball Safety editors · Published October 4, 2026 · Last reviewed October 4, 2026
What research says
Most of the hard evidence comes from other sports. A 2012 review pulled together nine trials of simple warm-ups, the kind that need no equipment, and found that when they were done regularly they cut leg injuries in young amateur female athletes and in military recruits. One stood out. "The 11+" lowered leg injuries by about a third in young female soccer players [1].
Those warm-ups weren't a quick jog and a few arm circles. They mixed stretching, strengthening, balance work, sport-specific agility drills and landing technique, and players stuck with them for more than three months [1].
And for pickleball
The pickleball research points the same way, but it's thinner. A 2026 review of leg injuries recommends a dynamic warm-up, along with balance training [2], and another 2026 review suggests the same [3].
The results aren't all neat. When researchers tested 129 players for elbow pain, whether players warmed up made no difference to their results [4]. In a nationwide survey, though, players who didn't think injury prevention was very important were more likely to report an arm or shoulder injury [5].
How to stretch
Hold static stretches briefly. A large review found that holding a stretch for 60 seconds or more per muscle group cut performance by about 4.6% right afterward, compared with about 1.1% for shorter holds. Static stretching also had no clear effect on injuries [6].
Dynamic stretching, done within minutes of playing, gave small to moderate gains in performance. The review's advice is to stretch as part of a warm-up and follow it with dynamic activity [6].
A short courtside warm-up
No one has tested a warm-up routine for pickleball yet, so treat this as a starting point built from the research above, not a proven program:
- Move easily for a few minutes to get warm.
- Do some dynamic stretches, like leg swings and arm circles [6].
- Add a little balance and footwork: side shuffles, split steps, and quick starts and stops [1].
- If you like static stretches, keep each hold under 60 seconds and move again afterward [6].
- Hit some easy dinks and drives before you play points.
The warm-ups that worked in other sports were done every time, for months [1]. A short routine you'll actually do beats a long one you skip.
Sources
- The effectiveness of neuromuscular warm-up strategies, that require no additional equipment, for preventing lower limb injuries during sports participation: a systematic reviewHerman K, et al. BMC Medicine, 2012Evidence that structured warm-ups prevent leg injuries in other sports.
- Lower extremity injuries in adult pickleball players: a systematic review of injury types, mechanisms, and risk factorsOkhovat A, et al. Cureus, 2026The main causes of leg injuries, and the prevention steps the authors recommend.
- Common pickleball injuries and preventionSquali B, et al. Orthopaedic Nursing, 2026Common pickleball injuries and recommended prevention steps.
- Positive clinical tests for medial epicondylalgia are more common than tests for lateral epicondylalgia in recreational pickleball players: a cross-sectional studyMyers BA, Hanks J. Journal of Hand Therapy, 2025Inner and outer elbow pain in pickleball players.
- Understanding upper extremity injury prevalence and risk in pickleball players: a nationwide surveyBellm EJV, et al. JOSPT Open, 2026How common arm and shoulder injuries are, and what predicts them.
- Acute effects of muscle stretching on physical performance, range of motion, and injury incidence in healthy active individuals: a systematic reviewBehm DG, et al. Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism, 2016What static and dynamic stretching before play do and don't do.