Have A Thoughtful Warm-Up ... Not A Mindless One

I got my morning lesson in and so far so good, but the clouds are lurking. So I'll see you soon for our practice. Please watch this video and take notes to the need for a thoughtful warm up. Such a warm-up sets a tone for your alertness, focus and proper mindset to begin a tennis match with. Notice the breathing recommendation Ms. Mendoza offers, as I noted such in a previous blog post.

Practice breathing in your warm-up. When your nervous and tense during a match your often restricting your muscles by forgetting to regulate your breathing. Your brain and body want you to breath. When you don't your mental and physical reactions and movement are adversely affected. When your tense and nervous you make errors that you wouldn't make if you were just hitting during practice. When you hear many of the pro tennis players GRUNT they are actually breathing, exhaling upon contact with the ball. There is frequently a timing mechanism that is intertwined within that same action/grunt. That'll be for another post.