mini tennis warm up good or bad?

Good point. I never seen that in courts though, but I guess it is a valid point. The key is that mini tennis is useful if it allows you to forget about other variables involved like depth/pace/movement etc and just concentrate on what is important in mini tennis, which is contact and feel. If you are still spraying the balls all over and just leaning and lounching for every ball... then probably not much benefit.
zalive said:
But why a need for lot of topspin? Gravity pulls the ball down anyway, it's just about controling the pace (through slower swing speed).
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zalive said:
You didn't answer my question. How does it relate to us?
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You know this is an old thread, I just wanted to provoke folks to get some more discussion.;) But the real thing is I have been doing the mini tennis warm up for quite a while but started questioning its benefit recently as I had doubts or rather difficulty transitioning to the baseline. No one used to do it at the club before I started doing it, now everybody does it before matches. Anyway it might be just me but I really feel it's best for me to start warm up at the baseline.
 
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It is a co-operative drill. So if both of you agree to it and stick to the basics of it, there is probably not enough benefit. The most possible issue is probably one of you is not co-operating with the mini tennis strokes. If that is the case no need to force it.
Curious said:
No one used to do it at the club before I started doing it, now everybody does it before matches. Anyway it might just be me but I really feel it's best for me to start warm up at the baseline.
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Curious said:
You know this is an old thread, I just wanted to provoke folks to get some more discussion.;) But the real thing is I have been doing the mini tennis warm up for quite a while but started questioning its benefit recently as I had doubts or rather difficulty transitioning to the baseline. No one used to do it at the club before I started doing it, now everybody does it before matches. Anyway it might just be me but I really feel it's best for me to start warm up at the baseline.
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I have never seen pros warm up so I believe you. But heres the thing, the pros they do all kind of different warm up: yoga, jump rope, stretch for a good 30 mins, maybe treadmill or stationary bike. Should we do this too? I am sure we shud. Are we doing it? Probably not for most.
Second, when pros warm up hitting, they do co-operative hitting so well, everything is slow pace, in the middle, all serving the purpose of warming each other up (lol). An average recreational player can't get through 5 or 6 shots without hitting the back fence or dumping in the net. So mini tennis seems to be a good solution.
And here is a clip of Tommy Haas doing mini tennis, check out that abs:
 
Curious said:
I love this video of Federer practicing. Very loose and slow at the beginning increasing the intensity gradually, they always do it that way anyway but this is a very good example. As one of the posters said above, it's perfectly possible and okay to start warming up from the baseline like Federer does in the video.
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No one says it's not perfectly okay to start the warm up from the baseline, like this.
Doesn't imply it's not ok to do a mini tennis routine.

Curious said:
You know this is an old thread, I just wanted to provoke folks to get some more discussion.;) But the real thing is I have been doing the mini tennis warm up for quite a while but started questioning its benefit recently as I had doubts or rather difficulty transitioning to the baseline. No one used to do it at the club before I started doing it, now everybody does it before matches. Anyway it might just be me but I really feel it's best for me to start warm up at the baseline.
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Well you certainly got me into discussion :) ;)

It's personal I guess. For me it's a good warm up more than anything else, I think I start to play with more relaxed, less tense strokes from the baseline when I first do a 5 min mini tennis warm up. Eventually you will warm up either way, but to me this is some nice and easy introduction to tennis.
I think there's a benefit in getting the feel and practicing control over the ball, but possibly some players don't really need this so it's just waste of time to them. When I started practicing this it proved useful to me. So I think there is some benefit to mortal rec players.
 
makos101 said:
So I usually warm up playing mini tennis. But recently i havnt played mini tennis and it seems easier to keep my stroke full and long with lots of racket head speed from the baseline. imo when I play mini tennis I get tentative with my strokes because I'm trying to keep the ball in the service box. I also don't use a lot of racket head speed warming up because were so close. Has anyone else experienced this? Please let me know how you feel about mini tennis.
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By mini tennis do you mean rallying in the service boxes? Or do you mean hitting with softer balls and smaller rackets? Mini Tennis is tennis on a smaller scale, therefore you can warm up adequately as long as you progress it onto full tennis. Technically, you should be warm before you even step on the court. Google 'RAMP' warm up if you want to warm up properly'.

Mini Tennis can help you with timing. You should always warm up with small swings to aid you in your timing to eventually swinging bigger. The reason the pros do this is to help them with their feel and their timing. Its called 'graduated length method'. Basically start small and build up. How would you build a house? You start with a few bricks, and then work your way up. JBT
 
zalive said:
No one says it's not perfectly okay to start the warm up from the baseline, like this.
Doesn't imply it's not ok to do a mini tennis routine.



Well you certainly got me into discussion :) ;)

It's personal I guess. For me it's a good warm up more than anything else, I think I start to play with more relaxed, less tense strokes from the baseline when I first do a 5 min mini tennis warm up. Eventually you will warm up either way, but to me this is some nice and easy introduction to tennis.
I think there's a benefit in getting the feel and practicing control over the ball, but possibly some players don't really need this so it's just waste of time to them. When I started practicing this it proved useful to me. So I think there is some benefit to mortal rec players.
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In terms of literally warming up slowly (muscles joints etc ) I think it's good but about its benefit for getting used to the rhythm and timing of shots I think it has just the opposite effect, at least for me, which is having trouble adjusting to the baseline, problem timing and so on.
 
Curious said:
In terms of literally warming up slowly (muscles joints etc ) I think it's good but about its benefit for getting used to the rhythm and timing of shots I think it has just the opposite effect, at least for me, which is having trouble adjusting to the baseline, problem timing and so on.
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Interesting...
Not just muscles warm up, for me it's warming up the swing, introduction to performing a full swing. IDK about the others but I can't just go to court and have the same relaxed, long, free flowing and effortless stroke as within a match later.

To me mini tennis is introduction into relaxing my swing motion. I focus on creating some topspin, control over the ball, touch and feel. I don't play mini tennis, but just a warm up within service box space. I'm just returning the ball while trying to do it with a correct form. Like using the same form except doing everything much slower. So I'm basically not doing anything much different compared to the baseline hitting. I'm just doing everything slower. When I do this, then step back to the baseline, it's only helpful, doesn't mess anything up.
 
zalive said:
relaxing my swing motion. I focus on creating some topspin, control over the ball, touch and feel.
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Yeah we must be different. I'm not sure if there is a reason why one can't do all the above starting from the baseline. The only thing is that, as another poster above stated, for lower level players it's not easy to maintain a rally for more than a few shots, for this reason mini tennis, actually I like the 3 quarter one, hitting from halfway between baseline and service line is still a good idea.
 
It's only enjoyable if the player guy can do it as well. I like to exaggerate topspin in mini before moving back to the baseline.
If you stand flat footed and just slice it's a waste.
 
Not really the intent of mini tennis. Such dynamic warm ups are done more effectively without the racquet or ball.

Dynamic warmups, mini-tennis, baseline co-operative rally, baseline running rally, volley-to-volley, baseline-to-volley... each has its own intent and purpose, and for maximum benefit should be used for that intent.

Curious said:
warming up slowly (muscles joints etc ) I think it's good
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Curious said:
Yeah we must be different. I'm not sure if there is a reason why one can't do all the above starting from the baseline. The only thing is that, as another poster above stated, for lower level players it's not easy to maintain a rally for more than a few shots, for this reason mini tennis, actually I like the 3 quarter one, hitting from halfway between baseline and service line is still a good idea.
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Try seeing when you do a mini tennis whether you do things about the same/similar as when at the baseline (stance, preparation, grip, swing motion), or you do something very differently. If you do it differently I can understand why it can be harmful because it's messing up your usual strokes.
 
Mini-tennis is crucially important. What you're doing at the baseline is essentially an extension of what you're doing at net. The importance of spin and feel are emphasized. I also find myself half-volleying a lot during mini-tennis so touch and reaction time are improved. When you play a heavy hitter reaction time and feel are paramount.
 
I really like mini-tennis, but to be useful both players have to do it correctly. Correctly means full strokes but slow, possibly a slightly abbreviated backswing, that produce a slow, spinny ball. The point is to engage your real swing and find your contact point. Feet need to move to get set-up, so fast feet, slow relaxed swing. Nice to start around the baseline and pull back to 3/4 court.
 
My two cents. If you have proper strokes then you will benefit from mini-tennis, if you don't have proper strokes it's actually detrimental. I find that mini-tennis is a good tool for developing topspin.
 
Falloutjr said:
Lol at the idea that I'm a 3.5...just lol.
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You may not be 3.5 but you are certainly under 35.

I never played mini tennis in my impulsive youth either. But as I got older I realized the importance of warming up under mini tennis conditions to get the legs and arms used to moving and blood flowing to everything before wailing on the ball from the back court.
 
Old Skool Graphite said:
Mini-tennis is crucially important. What you're doing at the baseline is essentially an extension of what you're doing at net. The importance of spin and feel are emphasized. I also find myself half-volleying a lot during mini-tennis so touch and reaction time are improved. When you play a heavy hitter reaction time and feel are paramount.
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rkelley said:
I really like mini-tennis, but to be useful both players have to do it correctly. Correctly means full strokes but slow, possibly a slightly abbreviated backswing, that produce a slow, spinny ball. The point is to engage your real swing and find your contact point. Feet need to move to get set-up, so fast feet, slow relaxed swing. Nice to start around the baseline and pull back to 3/4 court.
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Slicerman said:
My two cents. If you have proper strokes then you will benefit from mini-tennis, if you don't have proper strokes it's actually detrimental. I find that mini-tennis is a good tool for developing topspin.
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Its also a good warm-up for like someone who hasn't played for a while, several days to few weeks. Its as if they were warming up against the wall.

Sometimes people invite you to mini-tennis if they are not familiar with how you play and want to see if you are good. Its important for consistency for both good and beginners. Better to play mini for improving beginners cause it develops consistency, placement, focus, reaction, etc.

Good for developed players cause they can work on full, fast, whatever strokes. Its just personal preference, how well you know your partner, and if you feel like you aren't ready to jump into action yet.
 
The goal of warm up is to warm up most efficiently. To that end mini tennis is an excellent choice of the first thing you do. You get your wrist and arm loose, get the hand eye coordination dial in. The key is to use relaxed smooth strokes and hit every ball at the sweet spot.
 
The "no" camp is varied:
- Waste of the 5 min official warmup period
- Waste of time regardless
- "I'm terrible at it so I don't like to do it"
- "I feel silly doing it so I don't like to do it"
- "I didn't weight my racquet to one kilo so I could pussyfoot around with MT"
 
Curious said:
The truth is it's used in pro tennis maybe about 10%. Whether it relates to rec tennis or not, I will leave it to you. To me it looks more like a rec tennis myth.
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I have seen videos of pros warming up with short balls fed to them between the service line and baseline. That makes sense ... but isn't mini tennis.

Tennis is for fun ... if you and your opponent like it and get something out of it ... go for it. Just don't tell someone like me I have been warming up wrong for 40 years.

1) hit from baseline
2) take volleys
3) take overheads
4) take practice serves
5) play

Some USTA guy/gal sitting at a cubicle probably started this. They deserve the same fate as the person that invented the necktie. :D
 
S&V-not_dead_yet said:
The "no" camp is varied:
- Waste of the 5 min official warmup period
- Waste of time regardless
- "I'm terrible at it so I don't like to do it"
- "I feel silly doing it so I don't like to do it"
- "I didn't weight my racquet to one kilo so I could pussyfoot around with MT"
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ByeByePoly said:
I have seen videos of pros warming up with short balls fed to them between the service line and baseline. That makes sense ... but isn't mini tennis.

Tennis is for fun ... if you and your opponent like it and get something out of it ... go for it. Just don't tell someone like me I have been warming up wrong for 40 years.

1) hit from baseline
2) take volleys
3) take overheads
4) take practice serves
5) play

Some USTA guy/gal sitting at a cubicle probably started this. They deserve the same fate as the person that invented the necktie. :D
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For me personally, i like the 3 quarter one. Mini tennis is too mini for me.
 
S&V-not_dead_yet said:
The "no" camp is varied:
- Waste of the 5 min official warmup period
- Waste of time regardless
- "I'm terrible at it so I don't like to do it"
- "I feel silly doing it so I don't like to do it"
- "I didn't weight my racquet to one kilo so I could pussyfoot around with MT"
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- mini full strokes from the service box aren't a thing ... anymore than a 10 yard drive at the driving range. :eek:
 
Mini tennis is a great warm up if used correctly. It should mainly be used for warming up the feet and finding your contact point.
I like to start my kids about 3/4 court and they aim for inside the service box. Gives the other kid an easier ball to hit. I start them from this position because I want their first step to be more sideways or diagonally forwards every time.


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Mack-2 said:
Mini tennis is a great warm up if used correctly. It should mainly be used for warming up the feet and finding your contact point.
I like to start my kids about 3/4 court and they aim for inside the service box. Gives the other kid an easier ball to hit. I start them from this position because I want their first step to be more sideways or diagonally forwards every time.


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Do you use the whole court sideways or only one service box on each side?
 
Curious said:
Do you use the whole court sideways or only one service box on each side?
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I usually use the full court sideways. I only use one service box when there are 4 kids or when we're working on a specific warm up (anticipation, forwards and backwards movement, etc.)


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Curious said:
I think 3/4 court is ok, i dont like the one where people warm up standing right on the service line.
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I see it everyday where players come out and stand right behind the service line and barely move their feet. They mainly warm up their arms! Contact point is all over the place because they're stuck on the service line. I ask myself what are they really doing? There is zero purpose to mini tennis if you do it like that.


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It's not a warmup. People just use it like that. And 99% mess it up beyond all recognition. If you can't do it, you have deeply flawed strokes and should work on it until you don't. If you want to have an actual high level stoke.

It's a skill and a drill. And not one actual pro cant do it. Big laughs to the peeps on here comparing their ISR or flip or Federer like FH that can't play mini. Go watch vids of Henin or Fed doing it. Or hang around practice at a Tour event and watch players doing it.
 
Morch Us said:
Good point. I never seen that in courts though, but I guess it is a valid point. The key is that mini tennis is useful if it allows you to forget about other variables involved like depth/pace/movement etc and just concentrate on what is important in mini tennis, which is contact and feel. If you are still spraying the balls all over and just leaning and lounching for every ball... then probably not much benefit.
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Well all I meant is this as shown on this vid:

Not much topspin because not much RHS, but I don't feel the need to exagerate (well, on some strokes perhaps, for fun), but rather to play similar strokes just as this coach points out.
Anyway, Magnus effect says it's proportional to speed of the ball too, not just spin. So the ball dives if it has spin and speed. Since in mini tennis there isn't much pace, it's mostly the gravity that pulls the ball down. So even if someone slices it slowly or plays flat, it doesn't matter much for keeping the ball in.
 
Is it only me who does quite well at mini tennis but stuffs up after shifting to the baseline and the distance, ball trajectory, everything feels different now and hence doesn't like doing mini tennis any more?
 
Maybe I should do it starting from 3/4 court and once warmed up go back very gradually to the baseline, instead of suddenly 'Ok that's enough, let's go back to baseline' which is how we have always done with my mates. ( Just like how Tommy Haas does it in the video above) Transition is probably the key that I have overlooked in all that time.:(
 
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These days I only play mini tennis when I'm feeling faint or it's very hot, and we can't be bothered rallying from the back of the court. When I was getting coaching, we warmed up with mini tennis, and played a quick ping pong scoring game to 10 or so points. Never really felt the need for it.
 
Curious said:
Is it only me who does quite well at mini tennis but stuffs up after shifting to the baseline and the distance, ball trajectory, everything feels different now and hence doesn't like doing mini tennis any more?
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Possibly you 'engineered' some strokes that work well in mini tennis and not so well at the baseline. But it's not the purpose of it. There isn't a goal that you should win mini tennis if this is a warm up (or you play points?), that you should play your best strokes within service box, in it or anything similar, in my view. I use it to hit particularly slow strokes which sometimes barely go over the net. For example, I may pick to topspin the ball and clear 1m above the net and have the ball still fall in the middle of the service box because it's so slow. I don't have any intention to hit as fast as I can in mini tennis. But I do focus on proper preparation, stance, contact, eye hand coordination, racquet swing. Basically I try to do the same, as if you videod my baseline stroke and then played the vid in slow mo. Now if you do this, when you back up all you have to do is speed it up, and that's it. It's the same stroke.
 
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