Picture this, you just battled your way through a 3-set, 3-hour marathon. You’re tired. Exhausted. Fatigued. The last thing you want to do is spend another 20-30 minutes recovering from the match.
But guess what, if you’re playing a match the following day - or worse, you’ve got another match coming up - you’ve got no other choice.
Well that’s not entirely true, you could just do nothing at all.
The problem with the latter approach is that not only could it hinder your performance, it’ll likely lead to injury (especially if you choose this option regularly).
Because the thing is, tennis today can be brutal on the body. Players are fitter and more athletic than ever - while that makes for exciting shot-making, it also means they’re contorting their bodies in ways we never thought possible on a tennis court.
Not to mention the demand on the joints - think of all those stops and starts. Or how about your soft-tissues - muscles, tendons etc. - that take a beating from countless serves and groundstrokes.
Now, there are many things we can focus on when it comes to the recovery process post-match - and this topic could encompass an entire module in a course. It’s obviously not our aim to go into massive detail here.
But there’s one particular area I see players struggling with - post-match stretching and mobility work. That’s what we’ll explore - the why behind stretching after a match, how to optimize the process (and what NOT to do).
Stretching (and Mobility) for Post-Match Recovery
If you’ve read my blog posts on this topic, you’ll know the difference between stretching and mobility training. There’s a pretty important distinction (check out stretching for tennis - PART 1 and PART 2 for a refresh).
Both can be nice additions to a post-match recovery strategy. But before we get to those details, let’s outline the 3 primary reasons we use stretching/mobility with tennis players (and all athletes for that matter):
Warm-up (i.e. prepare)
Cool-down (i.e. recover)
Improve flexibility (i.e. increase tissue extensibility + joint range of motion; ROM)
Stretching/Mobility for Recovery vs for Improving Flexibility
I won’t get into the warm-up here (read THIS post for more on the warm-up) but I do want to attack the distinction that exists between stretching for recovery and stretching for improved flexibility.
Note, in this post, I’m referring to stretching as an umbrella term for all flexibility/mobility training. There are many sub-categories and unique nuances, but I will not be getting into those here.
You see, improving flexibility is no easy task. It can hurt. A lot. If you’ve been through a stretching session with me (or used my protocols from HPP and HPS), you may already be familiar with some of the strategies we employ when gaining ROM is our objective.
For instance, we often use contract/relax protocols that require isometric holds between 70% and 100% of MVC (muscle voluntary contraction). Have you ever tried pushing an immovable object (like a wall), as hard as you could? You’re contracting your muscles vigorously, but there’s no movement involved. That’s an isometric contraction. And it can be demanding.
But for long-term neural adaptations, along with visco-elastic changes to tissue (that lead to increases in ROM), we need to train in this manner. The acute side effects include stiffness, soreness, discomfort and possibly joint/muscle pain. Sometimes this pain is good (and necessary) but it’s pain nonetheless.
This is anything but desirable when you’re about to get on the tennis court for another match - and when you know you’ll be required to slide into shots or reach for wide balls…and get into a host of unpredictable positions…because that’s what tennis demands.
Post-Match Stretching Protocols are Different
When it comes to stretching/mobility work after a match, it’s important for us to keep in mind that we’re doing it to a) cool-down and b) to restore range.
But the real key word you should focus on there is RESTORE. We are NOT trying to increase flexibility - it’s simply not the right time (unless you want to be sore and stiff).
Let me illustrate this by using an example. After a match, it’s not uncommon to lose as much as 25% in total shoulder range of motion (ROM). This is primarily a result of serving (as it’s the most demanding stroke on the tennis player’s shoulder) but hitting forehands will contribute as well.
The tissues surrounding the shoulder - in particular, the posterior muscles (rear deltoid, rotator cuff mass etc) - are working hard in an eccentric fashion to decelerate the shoulder. As you get off the court and those muscles ‘cool-off’, you’ll experience some stiffness/tightness.
This leads to that decrease in ROM that we alluded to. If we don’t restore that range post-match AND we continue exposing those tissues to the repetitive stress of serving and forehands, we’ll simply continue losing more and more range (this is how many players develop overuse type injuries, poor postures and muscle imbalances - they simply don’t take care of themselves post-match).
I like to employ 2 main strategies post-match to help regain this loss in range - static stretches and CARs (controlled articular rotations).
Static Stretching
Here are a few simple guidelines to follow:
Target the areas of greatest concern first - shoulder capsule and hips are a good place to start.
Many players overdo it here and stretch too intensely; remember, we just need to do enough to RESTORE range, not to go beyond what we already have (save that for training blocks, not tournaments)
Using an RPE (rating of perceived exertion) scale is useful - nothing above 5/10 in terms of stretch intensity here.
If you want to go based on feel, it should be a light stretch feel - if you’re grimacing and/or can’t relax into the stretch, the intensity is too high.
I like to hold these stretches for about 1-2min (but I know some coaches that only do 45 seconds and others that do a couple sets of 30s or so) - experiment during the weeks leading up to the tournament (NOT during the event). If you don’t know, go with a lower intensity and decreased duration to be on the safe side.
Often, we’ll do some light isometric holds to accelerate the process of restoring joint ROM; this too is only done at a maximum isometric contraction intensity of 50% and for a duration of 10-30 seconds; again, if you’ve done iso stretches in training, these will work wonders, if not, steer clear!
Compare this intensity (50%) with what is recommended when the aim is to increase ROM (70-100%). If unsure, always go with a lighter intensity.
But know this, low force isometrics are anti-inflammatory, increase blood flow and have been shown to regulate motor neuron pools at the CNS - all of these factors help aid the recovery process.
Below are a couple examples (watch the 90/90 ext rotation stretch to get a sense of our stretching protocol).
CARs - Controlled Articular Rotations
CARs are also a great method to use when aiming to restore ROM (see vid example below).
Here, we can be specific or general - targeting the main areas (again, shoulders/hips) but also getting into regions of concern for each individual player (do you have some excessive wrist or ankle tightness, for instance?).
Typically, if players are pressed for time, we’ll do 3-4 reps per joint in question; if they have more time (usually players who only play 1 match per day), we’ll do 1-2 sets of 5-6 reps per joint.
The intensities here are also light to moderate (at most) and are progressive in nature - in other words, each rep gets a little slower and the range a little larger.
Ideally, players will perform static stretches first and then finish off with CARs - this will ensure that they ‘own’ the range.
For more on CARs, mobility, stretching etc, visit the ROM masters (they are my GO-TO source for all things on this topic): https://functionalanatomyseminars.com/
Lastly, we’ve also experimented with some ELDOA techniques and microstretching, but not enough to advise on how much, which positions to use and other programming variables. I do encourage you to look into this further if the topic interests you.
Final Word
My biggest issue here is that players never stretch during training and then matches roll around and that’s when they start. Does that sound logical?
You’re better off not stretching at all after a match if you haven’t employed it in training beforehand.
Remember, the key is NOT to overdo it by performing too many stretches, at too high an intensity (recall that stretching is still a force/stress) for too long of a period…which is what many players do after a long match.
I know players intentions are generally good but it’s just NOT the right time to push too much and try to gain 'more’ than normal ROM. Because it might only make things worse (increased stiffness, soreness, along with an increase in recovery time...the opposite of what we’re seeking).
If you’re gonna stretch after a match, do it light and just enough to restore the range that was lost and to aid in recovery (increased blood flow etc).
At other times in the training year, you can do it to improve flexibility…and most probably should.