The acute effect of stretching on the kinematics of instep kicking in soccer

Abstract

Some previous research indicates that compared to dynamics stretching, static stretching may inhibit the performance of the instep kick, but the effect of these two modes of stretching on soccer players with differing levels of playing experience is not known. Hence, the purpose of this study was to examine the effects of static and dynamic stretching during pre-exercise warm-up on lower extremity kinematics during soccer instep kicking in less and more experienced players. Twenty-four professional male soccer players (12 less experienced and 12 more experienced players) volunteered to participate. Lower extremity joint kinematics of soccer instep kicking were analyzed after static stretching, dynamic stretching, and no-stretching warm-up protocols. The kinematic variables analyzed were the maximum hip angular velocity and maximum knee angular velocity during the leg acceleration phase, and maximum ball velocity after impact phase. Relative to the no-stretching condition, both less and more experienced players had significantly larger hip angular velocity, knee angular velocity, and ball velocity after dynamic stretching than after static stretching. There were no significant differences in joint angular kinematics and ball velocity data between less and more experienced players after static stretching compared to dynamic stretching. This study suggests that dynamic stretching within warm-ups may be more effective than static stretching as a preparation for the instep kick in soccer players.