1. Muscle strength :- The muscle should have minimum level of strength to make the movement, specially against the gravity or external force.
2. Joint structure :- There are different types of joint in human body, some of the joints intrinsically have greater range of motion than others for example. The ball & socket joint of the shoulder has the greatest range of motion in comparison to the knee joint.
3. Internal environment :- Internal environment of athlete influences the flexibility. For example-warm bath increases body temperature and flexibility whereas 10 minutes outside stay in 100c temperature reduces the body temperature and flexibility.
4. Injury :- Injuries to connecting tissues and muscles can lead to thickening or fibrocin on the effected area. Fibrous tissues are less elastic and can lead to limb shortening and lead to reduce flexibility.
5. Age and gender :- Flexbility decreases with the advancement of age. However it is trainable. It can be enhanced with the help of training as strength and endurance are enhanced. Gender also determine the flexibility. Females tend to be more flexible than male.
6. Active and sedentary life style :- Regular activities enhance the flexibility, whereas inactive individual looses flexibility due to the solf tissues and joints shrinking and loosing extensibility.
7. Heredity :- Bony structures of joints and structure length and flexibilities of the joint capsules and surrounding ligaments are genetical and can not be altered by stretching programs.