Importance of Warming up - need articles

[Njhustler1]

anyone know where i can find a good article on the importance of warming up before a match? i've done a lengthy google search but to no avail.

i want to share it with the other people on my APA team who tend to just 'dive in'. i know better and usually hit a good amount of balls beforehand but they dont really listen to me when i tell them of the importance, so i like to get articles from experts.

 

[Beer:30]

Are these people that the importance of technique and repeatability are also lost on? In my experience at least 40% (and probably more) of league players place fun and drinking further up the priority list than consistency and improvement. I've found that with that type of player a few good natured comments about embarrassing play will prod them into practicing a little where all the promises of an improved game won't get them to the table.

 

[supergreenman]

The importance of not warming up

I don't want to be argumentative but I've found that "warming up" before a match can be more detrimental than helpfull.

I'm not talking about rolling a few balls on the table to see how it plays, I'm talking about 30+min of playing/practicing.

I've found that a lot of peoples 1st game of an evening can be one of thier best, why waste it on practice?

If your teammate trounces you or you make repeated errors in practice prior to a match, what does it do to your confidence?

I'm not saying don't practice, I'm saying don't practice immediately prior to a match.

It's much better to have a regular practice regimen that is separate from match/league play because you come to a match feeling already prepared.

Another reason you shouldn't rely on practice before a match/tournament is that when you get to a big tournament there often aren't tables available to practice on because of the number of matches going on, the number of people there and the tight schedule they have to get everyone through the tournament.

Just something to think about.

 

[CreeDo]

I've also found that my first match of the night is my best, and often it's a runout. When it's not my best match, I'll swear the first is the worst But mostly, I don't feel lack of warmup hurts me IF it's on a table I'm already familiar with.

I think just a handful of shots, to get the speed of the table, is what you want. It's not like someone can figure out how to pocket balls in a 10 or 20 minute warmup, they had to already know how when they walked into the building. They just need to pop the joints, stretch the muscles, and make sure they aren't going to massively overhit or underhit their first shot of the match because they forgot how the ball rolls on that particular set of tables.

 

[cleary]

I don't want to be argumentative but I've found that "warming up" before a match can be more detrimental than helpfull.

I'm not talking about rolling a few balls on the table to see how it plays, I'm talking about 30+min of playing/practicing.

I've found that a lot of peoples 1st game of an evening can be one of thier best, why waste it on practice?

Its funny, I feel I'm the same way with my own game. My first few minutes on the table are normally real good, then I fade off and slowly built it back up. If I warm up bad, I will play real good. If I warm up good, I normally play bad.

 

[Njhustler1]

Are these people that the importance of technique and repeatability are also lost on?

we're on the verge of making it to vegas. so every little bit helps and they're on board with learning stuff but i've just been completely bombarding them and unless they truly understand the importance, they dont work on it. its hard for me to elaborate, in technical terms, on why its important to do some of these things. so i like to find articles or videos of experts explaining why they're good.

 

[Johnnyt]

I think a lot of it depends on your age and/or how often you play. When I was younger I was ready to play as soon as a game was made. At 69 yo I now need 5 or 10 minutes to get in stroke...well really a half hour some days. At my age every joint is stiff but the right one .

I do know what you mean about the first game runout w/o warming up sometime though. Johnnyt

 

[Cameron Smith]

If your first game is the best of the night, you should probably pay attention to find out why. It could be any number of reasons from, lower starting expectations to on the other end of the spectrum possibly confidence that you will do well at the start. Maybe you shoot more naturally at the beginning and then start trying too hard later.

Suffice to say, I wouldn't recommend going in cold to a match. Besides the obvious practice and "warming up" stuff, hitting balls essentially allows you to get more comfortable with the table as well as allowing you to identify what shots or areas of the game you may be having problems with. Personally, I'd much rather know before a match starts that my long potting is off. A lot of times it just takes 10-20 minutes to fix the issue.

Similarily I can't think of too many musicians who go on stage cold (contrary to popular Seinfeld mythos). Same idea, you just want to get the blood flowing and limbered up.