Team Warm Ups Tips & Tricks
The warm up is an opportunity to reset your mind and body from the day’s activities and prepare yourself for the session you are about to complete.
Your warm up should be specific towards the demands of what you’re about to put your body through. A game day warm up should look very different to a skills session, compared to how you might warm up in the gym.
The following 12 tips have been designed to give you a better understanding about what should be included in your warm up and the reasons why.
1. Breathing
The Incorporation of breathing in your warm up is vital for the improvement of focus and the reduction of any anxiety. We commonly place an extra focus on breathing during any static or dynamic mobility exercises. This can be done by focusing on deep controlled breaths into the belly (not your chest) which can help regulate heart rate and blood flow.
2. Gradual Intensity Increase
A gradual increase in intensity during a team warm up allows for athletes to be adequately prepared for the demands of their sport in a safe manner. This includes beginning with low intensity movements such as a light jog, skips or slides which slowly increase in intensity towards more explosive and reactive movements such as a close out in basketball or some contested ball work for footballers. This method enhances blood flow, reduces injury risk and improves performance through the acclimatization of muscles and joints.
3. Create a Routine
Creating a routine allows for familiarity on game day and training sessions which allows athletes to know exactly how to prepare themselves so they are ready to go.
To keep athletes engaged, we suggest having a rotation of movements, exercises and reactive drills that you use during the back end of your warm up to keep them mentally focused and ready.
Examples include: small sided games, tall to short landing drills, mirrored shuffle drills.
4. Dynamic Mobility
Dynamic mobility involves taking a joint through it’s full range of motion which can help increase blood flow and movement, adequately preparing the body.
Examples include: Quad stretch to arabesque, leg swing to knee drive, sumo squats, lateral shuffle and reach.
5. Sport Specific
It’s important to include activities that are relevant to the upcoming sport, this will directly impact the mental and physical preparation of the team.
Lay up lines, 3 on 3 or defensive closeout drills for a basketball team, contested ball work, kicking drills and body work drills are common for a football team.
6. Agility and Coordination Drills
These drills improve the overall quickness, balance and body control of athletes but in a warm up are an excellent way to get the central nervous system firing. Examples include ladder drills, hoping exercises and movements with complex patterns such as band resisted drills.
7. Activation Exercises
Perform exercises that activate key muscle groups such as your glutes, quads, hamstrings or lower limb. Band drills, pogo hops, calf raises, single leg squats, balance exercises are always a good place to start.
8. Team-Building Activities
Light and fun games/activities can foster teamwork and communication. This will lead to the overall improved enjoyment of training and can help boost morale and create a positive atmosphere.
Simple games we have used include; tag, dribble knock out, keepings off, dodgeball etc.
9. Use of Music
Energetic and uplifting music can create an environment of motivation and focus, playing music during your warm up can also help athletes learn how to deal with loud noises and distractions so they stay locked in during game day.
10. Time Management
It is important to make sure your warm up isn’t too long as athletes can lose interest or if the warm up is too short, athletes won’t be properly prepared. We have found that a warm up of 10-15 minutes (Not including pre training mobility) is ideal to maximise athletic performance without causing fatigue.
11. Visual Demonstrations
Ensure you use demonstrations of exercises/drills which clearly show correct form and expectations. Ensure there are visual and verbal cues for athletes to follow.
12. Feedback Loops
Encourage athletes to provide feedback on how they felt after your warm up, this allows coaches to improve their warm up based on each team or training session. Everyone is different so it’s important to cater each warm up for different teams. We check in with our leadership groups once or twice per season to ensure athletes are happy and ready to perform from our warm ups.
Example Warm Up (Basketball)
Pre court:
- Foam Roll (Calves, Quads, Hamstrings, ITB, Glutes)
- Knee to Wall
- Hip Flexor Tilt & Reach
- World’s Greatest Stretch
- Quad Stretch to Arabesque
- 90/90 Hip Mobility
On Court – Run throughs:
- Jog/High Knees/Butt Kicks/Marches/Slides
- Leg Swings
- Airplanes
- Low Skips
- High Skips
- Glute Band Series (FWD/REV/LAT)
- Big Band Series (FWD/REV/LAT)
- Wall Drills Banded (Triple/Hinge)
- Tall to Short (DL to SL to Reactive)
- Line Hops (DL to SL to Reactive to Sprint)
Basketball Related Activities:
- Ball handling/shooting (basic high reps)
- Competitive drill (Something fun/engaging)
References:
- McGowan CJ, Pyne DB, Thompson KG, Rattray B. Warm-Up Strategies for Sport and Exercise: Mechanisms and Applications. Sports Med. 2015 Nov;45(11):1523-46. doi: 10.1007/s40279-015-0376-x. PMID: 26400696.