Shortly after the “Torso Twists with Lunge” exercise that Carlos Alcaraz was briefly seen performing during the Netflix documentary “Break Point,” the Spaniard made a quick follow-up appearance where he is seen performing jumping jacks and shadow swings while holding a water bottle in his racquet hand. This exercise appears 25 minutes into the docuseries’ second episode of season 1.
This activity is a terrific complement to last week’s featured exercise that Alcaraz presumably performed immediately before this second sequence was shown. The preceding “Torso Twist with Lunge” worked primarily on the kinetic chain in the core and legs required to hit a tennis ball. What Alcaraz is seen doing in this new segment works the full range of motion of the arms. The water bottle probably adds just enough weight to provide the sensation of holding the tennis racquet.
I strongly suspect that if more space had been available, Alcaraz would have been performing this warmup routine while holding an actual racquet. However, the modification of using the water bottle is a reasonable substitution that eliminates the danger of accidentally smacking someone with the frame. That is never a good look.
Additionally, the water bottle provides me an impetus for speculating whether Alcaraz is possibly trying to develop his own idiosyncratic signature water bottle habit. That would rival fellow Spaniard Rafael Nadal, who meticulously arranges his bottles in the seating area during his matches.
Any tennis player that is looking for a quick warmup technique that can be performed in a crowded area while waiting for a court assignment can probably benefit from using the same technique. Remember, you won’t look dorky. You’ll look like Alcaraz.
