4 Ways To Improve Your Pickleball Game!

• Build Muscle Off the court. As mentioned above, specific body areas are used more in a pickleball match, so be sure to work your upper body (try my Toned Upper Body Workout! to really get your arms and back muscles in shape!) plus my 8-Minute Legs and Thigh Workout to help build strong legs muscles so you can get into a deep stance and be ready to return that ball! Combined, these two workouts are about 15 minutes, and will really help up your endurance!

• Dress to win! You will want to wear stretchy, comfortable clothing that allows you to bend and move with ease! For footwear, you want a shoe with traction and support, like my Easy Spirit X Denise Austin Dilli Lace-Up Court Sneakers! I designed these to be not only functional on the court, but cute and stylish no matter where you wear them! (Don't forget to use my code DENISEWALK to save 20%!)

• Fuel your body. Drink plenty of water before, during and after you play, to help you stay hydrated and energized. And a great before-match snack is an apple with nut butter on it - it will give an immediate energy boost plus a sustained energy boost to keep you going til the end!

If you haven't yet tried it out, I highly recommend it - the basic rules can be found online, and so many communities now offer pickleball courts, so get out there and have fun! 

Let's live FIT, HAPPY and HEALTHY - together!!

Denise

Pickleball Stretch Video Script:

Hi everybody. I love pickleball and I wanted to do a great five minute warmup that you could do right before you play to loosen up your muscles and your joints to keep you free from injury. So let's warm up together. I like to use my paddle and just stretch side to side. This is a good way to stretch your hamstrings, your hips, your thighs, loosen up through the joints. That's it. A really good stretch. Just push it out. That's great. It also stretches your inner and outer thighs, keeping those muscles nice and flexible. There you go. We got two more stretch side to side. Last one. Okay. And now let's just stretch to the side. Hold it there. Toe comes up. You really wanna work on your groin area, your inner thighs, keeping you nice and safe on that court. Okay. And switch side toe comes up. Do you feel that? Feel that good. Stretch inside your leg. Excellent. Keep your back strong and straight. Beautiful. And now turn to the side. This one I want you to go down. Hold it right here. This is stretching our hip flexors. That's right. We get nice and low when we play pickleball. So you wanna be ready and prepared. That's it. And now stretch the back of your thighs, your hamstrings. An area that's the most important, keeping the back of those legs. Flexible, pliable, move. That's it. Flex that toe. Feel the strength in your quadriceps. Holding it here. Feel the stretch. That's it. And one last stretch on this side is for the calve muscles, the achilles tendon. That's a great area to keep flexible. That's it. And to the other side. The first is again, your hip flexor. And also stretch your quadriceps, the front of your thigh, keeping your back strong and straight. That's it. Great. Hold it there. Feel the stretch. Also tighten up your tissue so you feel more length here. That's it. Great. Shift your hips back. And let's do that hamstring stretch. Do you feel in the back of those thighs? Yes. These are all great movements to do before you get on that court. That's it. And nice stretch of the cast and your achilles tendon. The back of your lower leg. That's it. Great. And now let's loosen up the hips. Go all the way around for your hips. Now tighten up through the tummy. Good core. That's it. Loosen up those hips. Keeping our hips healthy. Moving well side to side on the core and reverse all the way around. Really Loosen. Good. That's great. Good. And stretched. Feeling great. Last one. Okay, now let's stretch the upper body stretch side to side. That's it. Use your paddle, the extra stretch. Feel the length through your spine. That's it. Now to the other side. Beautiful. And now all the way to the side. Feel the length. Good. And to the other side. Feel like a lunge. Beautiful. Hold that stretch. You got it. Good. And then move side to side. Working your inner thighs. Break it down there. Keeping your back strong and straight working your hips, your thighs, your buttocks. That's it. Warming those legs up. Excellent. We got two more. Wonderful. Last one. And hold it right here in just a little bit of a rotation. Great for your back. Keeping your back healthy. That's it. All of these stretches are great warmups that you could do before your game and after. If you have time, that would be great too. That's it. We gotta stay injury free so you can play more pickleball. I love it. Play with your friends. It's so fun. It's so social. Plus your burning calories, working your muscles. We got one more. And relax. Take a deep breath. Inhale legs together. Stretch to the side. Feel the length of your side, body and legs together. Squeeze your buttock, stretch to the other side. That's it. And bring your hands right to your thighs. Circle out your ankles, your knees. That's it. Keeping all the lower legs healthy. And switch circle all the way around. You got this. You have a great game. I'm proud of you. You'll be fit and fabulous out there. It's so much fun. Enjoy yourself. Stay fit and healthy. That's right. And some fun with friends. And lift up all the way. Inhale and exhale. Relax in the shoulders. That's it. Gorgeous. Just relax your shoulders. Are you ready to play? I am. Let's go play pickleball. You are ready now. Woo. You did great with a fabulous workout. And if you want more full length workouts, I have a brand new app, Denise Austin app that has over 400 of my workouts, plus recipes, plus a great community and challenges too to keep you going. Plus we have a free trial going on right now, so download my app or scan the QR code.