The Quick Carioca Dynamic Stretch warms up the musculature of the hip abductors and adductors used during lateral movement along the baseline.
Moreover, the quick carioca dynamic stretch prepares you for explosive lateral movements, reduces the risk of injury for the hip abductors and adductors and can improve flexibility by increasing muscle tissue temperature.
For more info check out the benefits of a proper warm up routine.
When you are performing the carioca steps you want to ensure that the hip remain in neutral position.
There shouldn’t be any hip rotation because we want to maintain as stable as possible during the movement.
Reason being is that when you move along the baseline you want to face your opponent while moving fast with your feet and staying loose with the upper body so that you can swing through the shot with ease.
In addition to that we also want to isolate the hip abductors and adductors.
During the following rally you can watch Roger Federer perform the quick carioca steps.
Quick Carioca Dynamic Stretch Progression
Implement the stretch into your dynamic stretching routine prior to your training or workout. This is also a great time to mentally prepare yourself.
Make sure you can control the action throughout the entire range of motion. Otherwise you defeat the purpose of the exercise.
Very often, athletes are not focused and they just go through the motions. They become sloppy. Especially when it comes to maintaining dynamic stability.
Here are the progression levels:
- Beginner: look down during the action
- Advanced: look forward during the action & increase speed
- Professional: close your eyes
As a beginner you want to perform the stretch in a controlled fashion, especially without the hip rotation, so that you can maintain dynamic stability throughout the stretch.
Advanced athletes can speed up the action to increase the dynamic stability requirements.
Professional athletes can close their eyes during the action. That makes it even more difficult to maintain dynamic stability throughout the action.
Quick Carioca Dynamic Stretch Summary
- Perform anterior and posterior cross-overs in alternating fashion.
- Hips maintain neutral during movement.
Targeted Musculature
- Hip Abductors
- Hip Adductors
More Dynamic Stretches
Of course we have more great dynamic stretches that you can do before you start playing tennis to get yourself prepared and ready for action.
Simply chose 6-8 dynamic stretches for your dynamic stretch routine that warm up the major muscle groups of the legs and hips and you are ready to go!
Here are a few suggestions:
Other Static Stretches For You
Apart from the quick carioca dynamic stretch we have some other static stretches for you that target the muscles acting on the hip.
You can use these stretches during the cool down once you are finished with your match or training session.
Simply click on them to learn more or watch the videos:
Training Zone
In this section we provide you with some more workouts and training tips you may be interested in to optimize your training:
