Free Inquiry Final Reflection

I enjoyed my free inquiry topic even more than I expected. At the beginning of the semester, I thought mobility and flexibility would mostly be about improving performance and preventing injury as an athlete. As the inquiry progressed, however, I realized that it was also connected to my overall health, recovery, posture, and even how I think about movement outside of basketball. Because I have spent so much of my life focused on pushing through discomfort and training harder, it was interesting to explore a side of athletic development that values slowing down, listening to your body, and thinking long-term. As a student-athlete, this made the inquiry feel very personal and relevant to my everyday life.

If I could send a message back to myself at the beginning of the semester, I would tell myself not to worry about having the “perfect” inquiry topic right away. The best topic is one that you are genuinely interested in and that connects to your own experiences. I would also remind myself to start documenting earlier and more consistently. Looking back, some of the most useful parts of the project came from noticing small changes over time, such as feeling less stiff, improving my movement quality, or becoming more aware of how my body moved during practices and workouts. I would give the same advice to other 336 students: choose a topic that matters to you personally, because you will be more motivated to stay engaged with it throughout the semester.

What I enjoyed most about my inquiry was that it was active and practical rather than purely theoretical. Instead of only reading about mobility and flexibility, I was able to experiment with different exercises and routines in my own life. I especially enjoyed seeing progress in movements that I had been working on throughout the semester. For example, I was able to improve my standing pancake position, maintain my L-sit, and continue developing my pistol squat. Those changes may seem small, but they made me feel like the inquiry had a real impact on both my athletic performance and my long-term health. I also appreciated that this project gave me a chance to reflect on what it means to take care of my body as an athlete beyond simply training harder.

As my next progression, I want to continue developing my pistol squat by moving beyond simply completing the movement and focusing on improving its quality. My goal is to perform a deeper and more controlled pistol squat while keeping my heel down, maintaining better balance, and reducing any compensation through my hips or upper body. From there, I would like to progress to more advanced variations, such as a slow eccentric pistol squat, a weighted pistol squat, or performing the movement from an elevated surface to increase the range of motion. I think continuing to work on the pistol squat will be a good way to challenge both my mobility and strength as I continue this inquiry beyond the semester.

The EdTech tools that were most helpful in documenting my inquiry were video recordings, blog posts, and online resources such as YouTube. Recording short videos of my mobility exercises and progress allowed me to compare where I started to where I ended up. It made changes in my movement easier to notice than if I had relied only on memory. Writing blog posts also helped me organize my thoughts and reflect on what I was learning throughout the semester. In addition, creators such as Ben Patrick and Strength Side were especially useful because they provided practical demonstrations and explanations that I could apply directly to my own training.