THE PADEL 10A 10-MINUTE WARM-UP BUILT ON PROVEN INJURY-PREVENTION SCIENCE
Football has run the same structured warm-up before nearly every match for over a decade, and it works: FIFA’s “11+” program is linked to roughly a 30% drop in injury rates, with even bigger reductions for ankle sprains and acute low-back injuries. Padel has never had an equivalent — until now. The Padel 10 adapts that same evidence-based approach (general activation, neuromuscular control, sport-specific integration) into 10 exercises built for padel’s actual movement demands: lateral shuffling, split-stepping, overhead smashes, and rapid deceleration at the glass. Free forever. No app, no login — just print it and go.
OVERALL INJURY REDUCTION — the injury-rate reduction linked to FIFA’s structured 11+ warm-up in football, the model this program is adapted from
FEWER ANKLE SPRAINS — reduction seen in trials of the same plyometric + balance exercise types used in Padel 10 moves 5 and 6
TOTAL TIME — the entire routine fits before you pick up a ball, no equipment required beyond your racket
In short: The Padel 10 is a fixed, 10-exercise warm-up — general movement, neuromuscular activation, then sport-specific integration — adapted from football’s FIFA 11+ program, which is linked to a ~30% drop in injury rates. Run through it before every session and print the poster below for your club noticeboard.
Why Padel Needed Its Own FIFA 11+
A Model That Already Works — Just Never Adapted for Padel
Football spent years chasing injury-prevention warm-ups until F-MARC (FIFA’s Medical Assessment and Research Centre) formalised the “11+” program: a structured sequence of running, strength, plyometric, and balance exercises performed before every training session and match. Randomised trials across youth and amateur teams found injury rates dropped by roughly 30% overall, with even sharper reductions for specific injury types — around a third fewer ankle sprains, and reductions of up to 63% for acute low-back injuries in dedicated analyses. The program succeeded not because any single exercise was revolutionary, but because it was structured, repeated before every session without exception, and specific to the sport’s actual movement demands. Padel — a sport built on explosive lateral movement, glass-wall deceleration, and overhead smashes — has never had a published equivalent. That is the gap The Padel 10 is built to close.
What We Adapted, and What We Didn’t
We did not invent new injury-prevention science for this page. The Padel 10 borrows the same structural logic as the 11+ — general movement preparation, followed by neuromuscular and plyometric activation, followed by sport-specific integration — and maps it onto padel’s real demands instead of football’s. Where the 11+ trains straight-line running and cutting for a football pitch, The Padel 10 trains the split-step, the lateral shuffle, and the overhead deceleration pattern that padel actually requires. We are being direct about this: we are adapting a proven framework, not claiming a new clinical trial has been run on padel players specifically. That distinction matters, and we think it’s more useful to you than a vague, unsubstantiated claim of originality.
Why “Every Session, No Exceptions” Is the Real Secret
The single biggest factor in the 11+’s success in football wasn’t any one exercise — it was adherence. Teams that ran the program consistently before every session saw the full injury-reduction effect; teams that ran it occasionally saw a fraction of the benefit. The same logic applies here. The Padel 10 takes about ten minutes. It fits easily into the ten minutes most players already spend chatting and stretching before a match. The exercises don’t need a coach, equipment, or a big space — just a racket and the willingness to do all ten, every time, rather than the two or three that feel most useful that day.
Do The Padel 10 before every match or training session, not just when you remember. The injury-reduction evidence from the 11+ came from consistent, season-long adherence — not occasional use.
The 10 Exercises
How to Run Through It
Perform all 10 exercises in order, every time, before you play. The whole sequence takes 8–10 minutes. You don’t need a partner, a coach, or any equipment beyond your racket — moves 1 through 5 build general movement and balance, moves 6 through 7 add explosive power and deceleration control, and moves 8 through 10 bring in the padel-specific overhead and rotational patterns before you pick up a ball.
Court-Length Jog
2 minJog the full length of the court and back at an easy pace, twice. Keep it conversational — this raises heart rate and tissue temperature without creating fatigue.
Split-Step Priming
30 sec × 3Bounce lightly on the balls of your feet, landing in the split-step “ready position” you use before every rally. Focus on quiet, quick landings — this primes the reaction pattern you use hundreds of times per match.
Walking Hip Openers
10 each legWalking forward, lift each knee up and rotate it out to the side (like stepping over a fence), then place it down and continue. Opens the hips for the lateral lunges and rotational strokes to come.
Lateral Lunge with Reach
10 each sideStep wide to one side, sink into a lunge keeping the other leg straight, and reach both hands toward the bent knee’s foot. This is the exact movement pattern of a wide defensive stretch at the glass.
Single-Leg Balance Reach
8 each legStand on one leg and reach the opposite hand toward your foot, then reach it out to the side and behind you, returning to balance each time. Builds the single-leg control that protects the ankle and ACL during scrambles.
Lateral Bounds
10 each directionBound sideways from one leg to the other, sticking each landing for a full second before bounding back. This is the FIFA 11+ plyometric principle — trials of this exact exercise type cut ankle sprains by roughly a third in football.
Cut-and-Stop Shuffle
6 repsShuffle three steps in one direction, plant, and cut hard back the other way. Deceleration — not sprinting — is where most non-contact knee and ankle injuries happen, so this pattern is trained deliberately, not left to chance.
Shoulder Y-T-W Raises
8 each positionStanding or hinged forward, raise both arms to form a Y, then a T, then a W, pausing briefly in each position. Prepares the rotator cuff and scapular muscles for the deceleration load of overhead smashes.
Standing Trunk Rotations
10 each sideHolding your racket across your chest with both hands, rotate your torso side to side in a controlled arc, letting your hips follow slightly. Activates the rotational chain used in every groundstroke and smash.
Shadow Rally
1 minShadow a rally without a ball — split-step, move to an imaginary shot, recover, repeat — moving at increasing speed for the final 20 seconds. Ties every pattern above together at game speed before you pick up a real ball.
The Padel 10 is a general injury-prevention warm-up for healthy players, not a treatment for an existing injury and not a substitute for a physiotherapist’s assessment. If any exercise reproduces sharp pain, stop that exercise and see a clinician before continuing to play.
Printable Club Poster
Put It on the Noticeboard
Clubs and coaches are welcome to print and display this poster free of charge — no permission needed, no attribution required (though we won’t complain if you leave the QR code on). It fits on a single A4 or Letter page and includes all 10 exercises plus a QR code linking straight back to this page for anyone who wants the full explanation. Click “Print This Poster” below and print directly from your browser; the page is formatted to print cleanly without the rest of the site’s navigation.
THE PADEL 10
padelrevive.com/programs/padel-10-warmup
For Coaches, Clubs, and Federations
A Free Resource, Not a Product
We built The Padel 10 because the 2025 wave of padel-specific injury research kept landing on the same conclusion: the sport has grown faster than its injury-prevention infrastructure, and nothing football-style and structured exists for padel players to actually use. This page and the poster are free for any club, academy, or federation to print, share, or adapt for their own players. If you’re a coach running group warm-ups, feel free to lead your group through this sequence verbatim — it needs no equipment and no prior explanation beyond what’s written above.
Why We’re Not Building an App for This
A deliberately simple, static, printable routine is more likely to actually get used — and get used correctly — than an app that needs downloading, an account, or ongoing engagement. Fitness and rehab apps see uninstall rates as high as 50% within the first month, and the injury-prevention evidence this program is based on came from a paper checklist taped to a locker room wall, not a notification-driven app. We kept The Padel 10 exactly that simple on purpose.
You know the feeling — you rush onto the court because your booking’s only for an hour, skip the warm-up “just this once,” and three weeks later you’re reading our elbow or knee pages wondering what happened. Most amateur players treat warm-up as optional. What actually works is treating it as fixed, boring, and non-negotiable — exactly like the football teams that cut their injury rates by adopting a warm-up nobody found exciting, but everybody actually did.
Who This Is For
Any padel player who currently warms up inconsistently or skips it under time pressure
Coaches and clubs looking for a free, evidence-based warm-up to standardise across their players
Players returning from injury who’ve been cleared to play and want a structured, repeatable pre-match routine
Frequently Asked Questions
What is The Padel 10 warm-up?
The Padel 10 is a free, structured 10-exercise warm-up for padel players, adapted from the FIFA 11+ injury-prevention program used in football. It combines general movement preparation, neuromuscular and plyometric activation, and sport-specific integration into roughly 10 minutes, done before every session.
Is The Padel 10 based on real research?
The structure and exercise logic are adapted from the FIFA 11+ program, which has been studied in randomised trials showing roughly a 30% reduction in football injury rates, with larger reductions for specific injuries like ankle sprains. We have adapted that proven framework to padel’s movement demands; a padel-specific clinical trial of this exact program has not been conducted, and we say so directly rather than imply otherwise.
How long does The Padel 10 take?
About 8 to 10 minutes for all 10 exercises. It requires no equipment beyond your racket and no partner, making it practical to complete in the time most players already spend chatting before a match.
Can clubs print and use the poster for free?
Yes. The printable poster is free for any club, coach, or federation to print, display, and use with players — no permission or attribution required, though we appreciate it if the QR code linking back to this page stays visible.
Keep Reading
Build Your Full Prevention Plan
Padel Injuries
Every common padel injury, explained clearly.
Recovery Hub
Post-match recovery, sleep, and return-to-play.
Prevention Hub
Warm-up, mobility, and strengthening — every prevention guide.
Ankle Support Gear
The support gear that actually helps — tested and reviewed.
