The Acute effect of stretching on the agility and coordination in fast movements of first division football players

Abstract

Perform stretching as part of a pre-exercise warm-up is a common practice in sports, although the stretching benefits are still questioned. For it, the purpose of this study was analyzed the acute effect of stretching on agility and coordination fast movements in soccer players. A random controlled repeated measures design was used and 28 honour division soccer players participated in this study (age 17,6 ± 0,8 years; weight 71,96 ± 7,9 kg; height 177,66 ± 5,85 cm). All subjects were assigned randomly to 3 groups: passive static stretch (n=9), active-static stretch (n=11) and dynamic stretch (n=8). All groups performed a standard 10 minute jog warm-up, followed by agility measurement using T-drill test. This test was repeated after each subject completed his stretching protocol previously assigned. No significant differences (p>0.05) were found in agility test time after performed stretching routines, independently of performed stretching technique. For it, this study suggests that short stretching routines may not alter the performance in agility tasks in Honour Division soccer players.