Priming the Explosive Energy

Warming up for me has always been a pain in my derrière. I hate it. There's no way to say it nicely. It's a herculean task in and of itself. During my last tournament, I spent at least 10 minutes on the stationary bike and 10 minutes stretching and when I could get on a court, another 10 minutes solo drilling. While the energy level was pretty good, I don't think my mind was anymore ready. Everything was still sloppy. The footwork was late, the preparation was late, and I ended up scrambling after a ball that I would see too late.

When I play well, there's a certain calmness to my reflexes. I see the ball in slow motion. I move in slow motion also. To warm up to this state, I have tried playing really conservatively at the beginning. Sometimes it takes a whole game and a half to get acclimated. I don't think I can afford to lose the first game in a tournament match, so I will have to find a different warmup routine to prime that explosive energy.