Functional flexibility & warm up for basketball players
Scott Caulfield, CSCS*D
The term “functional” is used way too often these days in my mind. Coaches and trainers use the term functional to describe training style, movements, and equipment, heck people have even written books about it. Unfortunately the terms have become so used and misused that it is hard to know what to believe when you hear that something regarding sports training is “functional”.
According to Webster’s dictionary functional means:
1 a: of, connected with, or being a function b: affecting physiological or psychological functions but not organic structure <functional heart disease>
2: used to contribute to the development or maintenance of a larger whole <functional and practical school courses> ; also : designed or developed chiefly from the point of view of use <functional clothing>
3: performing or able to perform a regular function
Gary Gray, founder of the Gray Institute (and the Gift program) has this to say about what “functional” means, “everything that the body needs and wants in order to be optimally efficient and effective, i.e., all and only that which is needed, at the right time, in the right amount, for the right result”.
So if playing basketball at the highest possible level and to the best of your abilities is your primary goal or function then being able to move better is obviously going to help you become a better basketball player. When I was a basketball coach working with players at the high school and college levels I was able to try out different types of warm ups on my players and see what was effective. Additionally as a strength coach working with high school, college, and professional players I have been able to take my knowledge of basketball and come up with a purposeful warm up that I think addresses many problems that many basketball athletes deal with.
Basketball is a game which creates multiple high forces and rapid loading through the body in three different planes of motion. Jumping, landing, planting, cutting, sprinting, driving to the basket and finishing with contact all occur in three planes of motion. If our warm up is to truly be purposeful or “functional” then it must occur throughout the three planes of motion.
Understanding the three planes of motion may help you better understand the need for functional flexibility. The Sagital Plane is most easily described as front to back, or flex and extend (think bending over to tie your shoe). The Frontal Plane is side to side movement (side bending or stepping), and the Transverse Plane is rotational (turning to look behind you). Moving in three planes of motion creates a total chain reaction. There are hundreds of muscles in the body which all work together in these three planes of motion to create and absorb force. From the feet to the head all these muscles work together in this chain reaction to create better neuromuscular efficiency.
The following warm up was created with the following common problems and/or injuries which basketball players deal with taken into consideration.

• Chronic ankle sprains
• Laxity in the ankle joint (ligaments & tendons stretched from numerous sprains)
• Poor plantar flexion and dorsiflexion of the feet
• Tight gastroc and soleus muscles (“calves”)
• Tight and/or weak gluteal muscles (‘’butt”)
• Tight iliopsoas, hamstrings, and shoulder girdle
• Weak/tight/injury prone spinal erectors (lower back)
• “Pain” in the knee(s) possibly due to limited mobility in the ankle, hips, and weakness in the gluteal muscles. Often knee pain is found to be caused by Illiotibial band tightness due to overactive and tight iliopsoas, rectus femoris, and TFLs.

Many tall basketball athletes generally lack mobility in all three planes of motion at major joints in the body (ankle, knee, hip, and thoracic spine) due to the nature of having longer levers (arms/legs) and not taking the time to work on flexibility and mobility.
The simple warm up will not only make you feel better physically but allow you to move better and therefore perform better. Give this warm up a fair chance and complete it over the next few weeks before you lift or play basketball and see how much better you feel as well as perform on the court. This workout should take you approximately 15-20 minutes.
General warm up (done circuit style, do all of A first then go to B. one exercise then the next, etc, then repeat the series)
A1) Jump rope – 3 sets of 25 jumps
A2) Mountain climbers – 3 sets of 15 reps each leg
A3) Med ball rotational throws against a wall – 3 sets of 10 reps each side
B1) Lateral band walk outs – 2 sets of 10 reps
B2) Single leg balance reach – 2 sets of 10 reps (forward, lateral, transverse)
Activation & Mobilization – 3 sets of 12 reps each leg (4 each direction/plane)
C1) Anterior (forward) lunges with posterior (backward), rotational (twist), and lateral (side bend) reaches overhead
C2) Lateral lunges with posterior (backward), rotational (twist), and lateral (side bend) reaches overhead
C3) Transverse lunges with posterior (backward), rotational (twist), and lateral (side bend) reaches overhead
D1) Calf mobilization against a wall. Similar to a calf stretch but use the knee as a driver and work on range of motion throughout the ankle joint.
D2) Inch worms – 2 sets of 15 feet
Scott Caulfield has been involved in fitness and basketball for over two decades. He most recently served as the Head Strength and Conditioning Coach and Director of Camps for the 2007 & 2008 American Basketball Association Champions, the Vermont Frost Heaves. He has coached boys and girls high school basketball at both the varsity and junior varsity level as well as spending two seasons as an assistant coach working with college men.
Scott is currently a Strength Coach and Movement Specialist at the River Valley Club in Lebanon, NH, where he also coordinates the 5,500 sq ft, Sports Conditioning Center, which is a space specifically dedicated to training athletes. Some of his current clients include Dartmouth College men’s rugby, Hanover HS girls basketball, Hanover HS boys basketball, Hanover HS boys soccer, and Lebanon HS girls lacrosse.
Scott has a bachelor’s degree in physical education from Castleton State College and is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist with Distinction through the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA). Scott also currently serves as the Vermont State Director of the NSCA. He is a Certified MTS Level 1 from Movement Training Specialists (www.mtspecialist.com).