Custom Warm-Up: Design One for Your Sport

Each group picks a sport, identifies the body areas most often injured in it and designs a sport-specific warm-up that it then leads for another group. It moves from a generic warm-up to one built to prevent the injuries typical of each sport.

How to play

1. Groups of five pick a sport and note on the sheet which areas get injured most and which movements it uses (ankles and jumping in basketball, knees and cutting in soccer, shoulders in team handball…) (6 min).
2. Design an 8-minute warm-up: general part, mobility and activation of the at-risk areas, and sport movements at rising intensity (9 min).
3. The first group leads its warm-up for another group, which does it and rates it with the sheet (8 min).
4. Switch: the second group leads the first (8 min).
5. Share: which preventive exercise seemed most useful and why (4 min).

Rules

• Intensity builds gradually and explosive moves come last.
• Every high-risk move (jumps, cuts) is explained before doing it.
• Everyone in the group leads part of it.
• Feedback is respectful and includes one specific tip.

Variations

Adaptations

• Deaf or hard-of-hearing students: the group makes the sheet with drawings and demonstrates each exercise facing the class.
• Limited mobility: design and lead the upper-body part, or choose an adapted sport like wheelchair basketball.
• Injured students: act as the group's at-risk-areas specialist and review the sheet.

Learning goals

• Connect each sport with its most common injuries.
• Design a sport-specific warm-up with a sound structure.
• Lead and give feedback on another group's work.

Equipment for a class of 25

• planning sheets: 6
• cones: 20
• assorted balls: 10

Teacher tip

Let them use their sport's equipment if it fits the space. Common mistake: the warm-up turns into a scrimmage; require the prevention part to be visible.

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