Mobility and flexibility are an important aspect of training for keeping athletes healthy.
Not everybody needs a lot of stretching though.. for many the basic stuff that we do pre training session is enough to stay healthy and keep performance high. You are never too strong but you can be too flexible and have too much range of motion at a joint.
With that being said some of our athletes are so friggin tight that it hinders them from getting into good positions or maybe it causes them some type of pain (hips, abs, back, etc) while playing their sport… These athletes may need some extra mobility work or soft tissue work.
I typically show them exactly what to do and tell them to do it either before or after a training session but I also show and tell them how to do it at home. To see improvements in mobility and/or flexibility frequency is more important than anything else. In other words, doing three ten minute sessions is better than 1 30 minute session. Im not really sure why but it works. Probably, if I had to take an educated guess it has to do with neurological connection to the tissues…
Personally, I do about two ten or fifteen minute sessions per day. One either in the morning or before I train and then another 10 minute session before bed… When I stick to that it works and I feel great.
Point is that some of the athletes should be doing stuff at home because they need the frequency..