Warm-Up Time Equity, and Excessive Requests

Each Wednesday, this site tackles a topic related to the rules of tennis. For the past few weeks, we have been systematically breaking down each principle in The Code, an exercise that will likely extend through at least the middle of 2026. Last week, we wrapped up Principle 3 of The Code, which is all about how warm-ups are supposed to work. Before moving on to Principle 4, which also addresses the same topic, I want to take a brief pause to address a reader’s question that arose. It highlights a small but very real tension that recreational players encounter on court.

The general concern is this: how tolerant are we supposed to be when an opponent takes more than their fair share of the warm-up time? The specific example was an opponent who kept asking for more and more overheads, even though the previous feeds were perfectly fine. Monopolizing the warm-up with very specific personal requests isn’t cool. So, in accordance with The Code, what are we supposed to do when it happens?

As an exacerbating factor in recreational tennis, although The Code indicates that warm-ups can be allocated up to 10 minutes, most tournaments and officiated USTA league championship matches limit warm-ups to five minutes. That doesn’t leave much margin for time wasters.

At the professional level, warm-up equity is achieved primarily through a defined process. The cooperative choreography of the five-minute warm-up is ubiquitous on the tours. The first minute is devoted to groundstrokes. The next minute is baseline to volley, and the next minute is the reciprocal of that. That time includes overheads, if any are desired. The final two minutes are reserved for serves.

Additionally, when professional players warm up, they can monitor their progress via a countdown clock. The chair umpires also announce the time at the end of each interval. The routine stays on schedule because everyone knows exactly where they are within the time sequence. Professional tennis also comes with a higher level of shot quality. Both players are expected to provide quality balls, and they have the skill to deliver on that commitment.

Recreational tennis lacks almost all of those guardrails. There is no visible clock. No one is announcing transitions. Warm-up quality varies wildly. Additionally, many players have little innate sense of how much time has actually elapsed. That combination creates fertile ground for imbalance, whether intentional or not.

It would be nice if recreational tennis also had a visible timing mechanism for the warm-up, but without electronic scoreboards, that isn’t feasible. In the absence of that, an App could pace players through the warm-up sequence. For example, the Seconds Pro app could be used to mark time intervals. Even if such a tool were not match-legal, there would be value in practicing warm-ups against a timed structure. Developing a better internal sense of elapsed time would likely reduce a lot of friction before matches even begin.

Until something like that becomes available, players are left to manage these situations independently, using the courtesies of the Code to guide our behavior. In response to the reader’s question about what to do when an opponent is hogging all the time by requesting excessive overhead feeds, there is no harm in gently steering the warm-up forward. If they were second to the net, simply indicating that it is time for serves is reasonable. If they were first up, then silently but firmly moving toward the net signals that it is time to transition. These actions are not confrontational but rather a reminder that time during the warm-up should be shared equitably.

As with so much of The Code, this comes down to good-faith cooperation. Warm-ups are meant to prepare both players, not to satisfy every individual preference in unlimited quantities. When that balance begins to tip, a calm, matter-of-fact nudge toward the next phase is not only acceptable but also entirely consistent with the spirit of the game.