The Warmup Game

 Let me lead off with a couple of anecdotes.  I spent some time in Cambria and the pro there, Gregg Whitfield, was kind enough to play a bit with me.  (He has some videos on YouTube, worth looking at.)  There were four of us warming up and one of the players took a popup and put it away.  Gregg politely suggested that was out of place in a warm up game.

Data point 2, There was a reddit post in a pickleball section.  A guy was watching some 6.0s rally a bit and was amazed that when the popup came that the ball was not put away, but just returned to continue the rally.

You and I show up at the local park and we are about to start our first game.  What a "warmup" is is some gentle dinking, maybe some longer shots, a serve or two, if that's a problem child for someone, and then it's game time.  There is usually a real push to get to the play.  I don't know why, the hurry to play and the game length and the waiting time for the next can be long and so why shorten the time you have on the court?  Particularly for the first game.  

Let's apply the anecdotes to the first game scenario.  I would suggest that playing full bore on that first game is probably a source of injury as the usual warmup really doesn't warm up anything.  I think you have to play, maybe at a slower speed, to actually get the legs going and the back comfortable.

So how about that first game you work to create some longer rallies and when the chance comes to easily end it, just put the ball back in play for a few more hits?  Now, this requires the cooperation of all involved, but it is probably worth artificially creating a longer game to fully warmup.  If the need to win conquers the need for fun, then go full out on the next game, control yourself!

When I'm playing with lesser skilled opponents I frequently will not put the ball away and just play it back and give the opponent a chance to hit a better ball.  I will lose the occasional point this way, but I think everyone enjoys a longer rally.  Also, I'm more likely to get balls hit to me if I don't put them away every time.  I'm there to play and make good shots and I'm not there just to beat up on beginners.

I think this makes a lot of sense for the first game and anytime you're playing down to a lower level of skill.  And playing a soft shot regardless of what was hit to you is a good skill to have and to practice.