The impact of functional training in basketball classes on the improvement of basketball skills and mental health of male college students in general universities

Background: This study aimed to investigate the effects of functional training on basketball skills and psychological well-being among male university students. Methods: 120 male students enrolled in a public basketball elective course at our university were selected as the experimental subjects using random sampling. They were randomly assigned into two groups: 60 students in the experimental group and 60 in the control group. Based on the students’ overall physical condition and the practical needs of basketball instruction, the training was conducted over 12 weeks, with two 30-minute sessions per week. The experimental group underwent training primarily focused on core strength (e.g., bridge push-ups, medicine ball standing rotations, and total resistance exercise (TRX) chest presses, etc.). In contrast, the control group performed stationary high-low dribbling, stationary single-hand shoulder shooting, and two-person passing drills. Results: After the experiment, both groups demonstrated improvements in triangle lateral slides, 30-second consecutive under-basket shots, and full-court shuttle dribble layups. However, the experimental group exhibited significantly greater improvements in all three skills compared to the control group (p < 0.05). No significant difference between groups was found for shoulder flexibility, trunk stability push-ups, and trunk rotation stability after the experiment (p > 0.05). While shoulder flexibility improved similarly in both groups, the experimental group achieved notably greater improvements in deep squats, hurdle steps, straight-line lunges, active straight-leg raises, trunk stability push-ups, and trunk rotation stability. Furthermore, after the experiment, no significant difference was observed in terror scores between the two groups (p > 0.05); however, for other indicators, the experimental group scored significantly lower on the Symptom Checklist-90 (SCL-90), indicating a better mental health status compared to the control group (p < 0.05). Conclusions: Functional training significantly enhances limb flexibility, effectively improves basketball skills, enhances functional movement screening (FMS) outcomes, and positively impacts mental health status among male college students.