Knee protection

Great question. Knee health in racquet sports like tennis and pickleball is less about the knee joint itself and more about the muscles that control the knee. The key protectors are:

• glutes (hip stabilizers)

• hamstrings

• quadriceps (especially VMO)

• calves

• hip abductors

If these are strong, the knee tracks properly and injuries like Patellar Tendinitis or Runner’s Knee become much less likely.

Here are the most useful exercises (very similar to how you used face pulls to protect your shoulders).

Best Knee-Protection Exercises

1. Split Squats (or Bulgarian Split Squats)

Probably the single best knee-strengthening movement.

Benefits:

• strengthens quads and glutes

• trains single-leg balance (very important for tennis)

How:

• back foot on bench or floor

• lower slowly

• knee tracks over middle toes

3 sets of 6–10 each leg

2. Step-Downs (eccentric quad strength)

This is a physical therapy favorite for knee durability.

How:

• stand on a box

• slowly lower the other heel to the floor

• control the descent

This builds eccentric strength, which protects knees when stopping or changing direction.

3 sets of 8–12

3. Glute Bridges or Hip Thrusts

Strong glutes prevent the knee from collapsing inward.

Benefits:

• protects ACL and meniscus stress

• improves lateral movement in pickleball

3 sets of 10–15

4. Lateral Band Walks

These strengthen hip abductors, which stabilize the knee.

How:

• resistance band around ankles or knees

• small sideways steps

2–3 sets of 15 steps each direction

5. Hamstring Work

Hamstrings protect the knee joint.

Good options:

• Romanian deadlifts

• leg curls

3 sets of 8–12

6. Calf Raises

Calves absorb a lot of force during court movement.

Strong calves reduce knee stress.

3 sets of 12–15

The “tennis/pickleball knee protection formula”

If you want a simple routine 2–3x per week, this works very well:

1. Split squats

2. Step-downs

3. Hip thrust or glute bridge

4. Hamstring curl or RDL

5. Lateral band walks

6. Calf raises

That routine covers every muscle that stabilizes the knee.

One exercise almost every physical therapist recommends

Backward walking on a treadmill (slow).

This:

• strengthens the VMO quad

• improves knee tracking

• reduces knee pain risk

5–10 minutes is enough.

Something interesting for racquet players

Studies on tennis players show hip weakness is a bigger predictor of knee injury than quad weakness.

So the glute work and lateral band walks may actually be the most protective.

✅ Since you already use face pulls and Pallof presses (excellent joint-protection exercises), the lower-body equivalents would be:

• split squats

• lateral band walks

• step-downs

Those three alone go a long way.

If you’d like, I can also show you the single exercise many pro tennis players use to “bulletproof” their knees. It looks strange but it is incredibly effective and only takes 2–3 minutes.