Ready for Hoops?

Robin Kish, Exercise Physiologist
Cleveland Clinic Sports Health
Conditioning Coach for the Cleveland Rockers

Warm-up and Stretch for Basketball

Flexibility is a component of basketball that players often overlook. When performed on a consistent basis, a warm-up and stretching routine provides improved coordination, improved awareness and greater efficiency of muscular contractions. It is crucial to gain enough flexibility to reach higher toward the basket and increase your stride. This is called functional flexibility. There are three phases to improve your functional flexibility.

General Warm-up
This phase elevates body temperature. Begin with joint rotations. These permit your joints to move more easily (by lubricating the entire joint with synovial fluid). Perform 10 circular movements of the ankles, knees, hips, trunk, shoulders and neck. Then do an activity such as skipping or defensive slide movements to increase blood flow to the muscles.

Elements of Good Stretching
Static-active flexibility (also called active flexibility) is the ability to assume and maintain extended positions without external help. (For example, lifting your leg and keeping it high helps increase stride length to make you faster.) Static-passive flexibility is the ability to assume extended positions and then maintain them using your weight, the support of your limbs, or some other support. (For example, placing your leg on a bench, or a seated toe-touch.) Dynamic stretching is the ability of the muscles to move through a range of motion, such as seated windmills, leg swings, walking lunges and straight leg walks.

Basketball-specific Activities
The last phase prepares the mind-body connection. When you start shooting the ball, your mind sends a signal via the central nervous system (CNS) to the muscles to perform the movement. By performing repetitive movements, you train the CNS (mind-muscle connection) to respond in a more efficient manner. This is accomplished when you perform ball handling and passing and shooting drills.

Now you are ready to hit the court running!

Robin Kish is the Strength and Conditioning Coach for the Cleveland Rockers.