Breaking Down the Basketball Warm-Up...

The warm-up, regardless of sport is a critical aspect of preparing for physical activity and competition. Basketball is no exception - all basketball athletes should be performing an appropriate dynamic warm-up prior to a game, practice or shoot around. Below is my template for structuring a team warm-up prior to a game or practice. Keep in mind that time and space will be different for everyone. A high school team may only have 5-10 minutes before a game to warm-up. In a case like that you've got to prioritize what is most important for your specific team/players and perhaps "Pick Your Top 5" drills to address those needs. You need to know where you're getting the most bang for your buck. In situations where I've wanted to get more done and give the athletes more court time pre-game I would utilize a hallway or lobby for warm-up. It pays to be creative and resourceful. A university team on the other hand might have significantly more time and can expand their warm-up. The goals of a pre-game warm-up will also differ from the those of a pre-practice warm-up. Pre-practice usually means more available time to take care of corrective exercises or other preventative measures. You can almost look at it as its own mini training session. Pre-game on the other hand is all about preparation to physically and mentally exert oneself at their highest level. The following template is just that - a template (in order), not a hard and fast way to do things. The sample exercises or drills given do not cover every possible option but represent some of the basics.

Self Massage: The goal here is to improve tissue quality and "loosen you up". There is some discussion about the research that suggests this effect may not last or is not effective as originally thought. The way I see it is this - I've never met anyone who didn't FEEL better after rolling out and wouldn't want to do it before any kind of physical activity. Bottom line: if it works for you, do it.

3D Flexibility/Mobility including Foot/Ankle/Big Toe: Your feet are what connects you to (and propels you off of) the ground - their importance must be recognized! Without getting too specific here you require a certain amount of motion in your feet and ankles in various joints. This motion creates a chain reaction up your body that allows you to load your muscles in 3 Dimensions, and then harness all of that stored energy and use it to explode through a stable foot. Here you are also going to address any tightness with static stretches of your main muscle groups, quads, hamstrings, calves, hips.

Dynamic Flexibility/Mobility: Spider Crawls, multi-planar traveling lunges, single leg deadlifts. Here we add a movement component to our stretches and are addressing specific flexibility that we'll need to properly execute the movements that we'll be doing during games.

Locomotor Skills/CNS Excitation: Skipping, Shuffling, Backpedal, Sprinting, Hopping, Bounding, Jumping, Leaping, Quick Feet. Basketball athletes use all kinds of strategies and approaches to get from point A to point B. Whether it's drop stepping in the post or chasing after a loose ball, you should feel comfortable and confident in using multiple varieties of footwork and movements patterns. Your Central Nervous System (CNS) usually needs a bit of a wake up call in order to get your body primed to run fast, cut hard, and jump high and repeatedly. We accomplish this through our hopping, jumping, skipping, leaping and quick feet movements.

Basketball Specific: Pattern Runs, Close-Outs, Defensive Drills, Passing, Dribbling. Following a pattern of general to specific, your warm-up should finish with things that look and feel the most like playing basketball. It can be breaking down certain movements on the offensive or defensive end such as multiple closeouts to different spots on the court with shuffles home each time. Or as seen in the video, several things happen in the basketball specific drill. First the athlete makes a C-cut to the inbounder who may or may not pass them the ball. If they receive the ball they must dribble full speed to the top of the opposite 3 pt line, make a move and finish strong. If they don't receive a pass they must run a wide lane and cut hard to the basket at the top of the opposite 3 pt line where they do receive a pass and again finish strong.

One aspect of the warm-up that is often overlooked is the mental aspect. If you're about to get after it in a practice or game right after your warm-up it is absolutely essential that you use your warm-up time to prepare mentally.

COMMUNICATE!

I have seen on more than one occasion a team go through a quiet/passive warm-up and come out of the gate with no fire. How you approach your warm-up will carry over into how you approach the game or practice. Lack of focus and intensity in warm-up=same in game.

• Support each other. Encourage your teammates, hold each other accountable, if you see a teammate coasting through warm-up let them know.
• Use names. Use your teammates names when addressing them or passing them the ball.
• Remind each other WHEN and HOW you need to communicate in-game to be successful.

FOCUS!

• Do every warm-up drill to the best of your ability, with the proper intensity.
• Take time to review the game plan. If you can't remember a play, make a mental note to ask someone before the game starts.
• Get your game face on. However you prepare yourself to win, now is the time to start or take it to the next level. Some athletes prefer to stay relaxed until the on-court basketball warm-up before they get hyped and that is perfectly fine.

The importance of a proper warm-up is evident, do one and dominate or don't and get left behind.

Josh

Questions/Comments?

josh@torontoathlete.com

416.894.3365

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ATP Sport Conditioning Centres located in Downsview Park, 75 Carl Hall Road Unit #15