Basketball Prehab
Ankles, Knees and Hips. They’re the most common presentations we see that can simply be avoided by a prehabilitation program – I can’t offer much advice on stopping the ball jamming down on your finger. So what is prehab? ‘Prehab’ is the process of improving mobility, flexibility and strength to reduce injuries in troublesome areas.
Ankles: I’ve mentioned the need for 12-14cm worth of knee to wall to ensure the whole lower kinetic chain is moving efficiently, but I’ll state it again. Get mobilizing!
It is also important to progress thru an adequate ankle stability program, which allows the proprioceptive balance fibres to increase their ability to respond in certain settings. Start basic single leg standing and progress through tasks that may challenge this such as standing whilst throwing and catching a ball against the wall. You can also try shutting your eyes or standing on an unstable surface such as a folded pillow or wobble board. I see the last two as a bit dysfunctional to basketball, as we don’t require these skills, but they do take your balance to a higher level. I often like to challenge athletes into functional positions so I think single leg stance, standing sideways on a decline board is actually a great basketball specific ankle exercise (and one I’ve seen Steph Curry master over his ankle rehab program).
Hips: Hip strength is vital in any form of movement. It simple controls your body’s position and there is plenty of data stating that poor hip strength results in lateral ankle sprains, due to the position your centre of mass is when landing on one leg as a result of the lack of control. 3 very simple exercises to begin are basic clams, side lying leg lifts and glute bridges.
Clams – When lying on your side, slightly bend your knees and hips. Roll your hips forward and hold them there (rolling backwards is cheating). Keep your ankles together and lift your knees apart, changing the joint angle at your hip and feeling it work you glute medius (side glute) muscle.
Straight Leg Lifts – Again, when lying on your side, ensure you are dead straight this time. Take the top leg back slightly further so it is behind the bottom leg. Keeping the foot in somewhat of a neutral position, lift the leg up. Ensure it doesn’t kick out in front of your, nor do your turn your foot.
Bridge – This is an exercise many are familiar with but is performed relatively poorly. It is a great posterior chain strengthening exercise but athletes adopt a ‘strong get stronger’ approach and recruit the muscle dominant pattern they already have. A cue I often explain is “pee over your head” or “tuck your tailbone under”. It is simple a movement of lying flat on your back with you feet on the floor and knees slightly bent. Then you are to lift your bottom up, remembering to keep tucked under. If you arch your back too much, your hamstrings will cramp and you have probably performed this exercises incorrectly.
Progress from doing 3 x 30sec holds of these exercises, to 10 x 30sec holds. It’s then time to move to exercises that actually involve body weight, but you will be surprised at how weak most individuals are around the hips, and you’ll feel a burn!
Labral tears are a very common presentation in basketballers, due to the notion of cutting in the sport. They occur from ‘sloppy’ or ‘unstable’ hip joints due to lack of muscular control or strength around the hip socket itself. Quite frankly however, a bulk portion of the athletic population have underlying labral tears when imaged on MRI, however a smaller portion only present with pain. This is due to them having sufficient muscular stability and not relying on the inherent lack of passive stability. It is thus easy to see how a prevention strengthening program may eliminate your risk of hip pain.
NOTE: Many people have seen these generic exercises but have been poorly taught or perform them incorrectly. In the clinic, I’ve seen a variety of ‘interesting’ techniques. Remember, QUALITY OVER QUANTITY. Your strong muscles will get stronger if performed incorrectly.
Knees: The great news is a lot of knee pain comes from the lack of control from the proximal(hip) and distal(foot) parts of the body. One prehabilitation exercise important for the knees is landing strategy, in which I will discuss in far more detail in a subsequent post. Stay tuned. Basically the movement that is most toxic to the body is known as ‘dynamic knee valgus’, which is where your knees come together as you land or bend the knees. This places an athlete at severe risk to multiple injuries. Practice landing off a step where your knees go out towards your 2nd or 3rd toe and don’t trend in towards one another but ensure your knees do not go forward over your toes. Also add in hip and trunk flexion to absorb more through the hips to dissipate the load.
By performing these exercises daily, you’ve taken the right step towards body maintenance and keeping injury free.
Good Luck!
