Functional Movement Screen™ in High School Basketball Players: Pre- and Post-Season

Pre-participation screening and tracking of an athlete's functional status during a competitive season is essential to maintaining optimal performance. The sport of basketball had the third highest number of boys and girls participating during the 2018-2019 season (23), which typically occurs October to March each year. The Functional Movement Screen™ (FMS; 10) has been administered to some youth athletes from various sports, however, both males and females from basketball have not been studied extensively. The purposes of this study were: 1) to assess functional movements before and after the natural progression of a high school competitive basketball season; 2) to determine if there were functional movement differences between male and female youth basketball players. Eighteen male (n = 10) and female (n = 8) high school basketball players completed the FMS pre- and post-season. Scores were analyzed using a mixed-model ANOVA. No significant differences were found for Time or Sex for composite FMS scores (Mean ± SD, Pre-season: 16.2 ± 2.1, Post-season: 17.1 ± 1.4; Males: 16.8 ± 1.8, Females: 16.5 ± 2.0). Specific FMS tests were compared pre- to post-season using Wilcoxon signed-rank tests and were not significantly different after the competitive season or between the sexes. Sex differences relating to overall FMS composite scores or specific test scores were not apparent in this age group or sport. In this small group of high school basketball players, participation in a competitive, high school basketball season did not limit nor enhance functional movement ability.