The "base" category really isn't movement, it's the exact opposite. It's important however because athletes are moving into and out of this position . Many movements are initaited from a static or quasi-static base position.
Many coaches use the term athletic base to describe the common, closed stance, hip/knee bent, "ready" position. You can see it through-out many different sports. In this position we find that the athlete is standing with the feet, hips and shoulder in-line, and they are generally facing the action. They usually have obtuse angles at the knee and hip with the shoulder slighty anterior to the knee depending on sport and relative body segment lengths. Their weight is distributed to the ball of the foot and they are in a balanced position to react in any direction.
This isn't the only "athletic base" position however. In many cases, setting up in an "open" or "split" position is advantageous to that sport or the next action needed.
The split athletic base is often used defensively when the athlete either wants to direct the movement and/or is likely to move in a certain direction. Its also common as seen in the photos above as a position thats moved into to execute a sporting action.
So from a training perspecive this means a couple of things when I have analyzed a sport and know we need this.



Base positions don't seem exciting or sexy to train, but it's critical. Many one on one battles are won and lost when an athlete can get into or out of a base position faster than another. What base positions are your athletes in? How do they get into and out of them? Are they still doing it well near the end of the game? These questions, and addressing the training needs will help your athlete.