Acute effects of static stretching on hip flexor and quadriceps flexibility, range of motion and foot speed in kicking a football

J Sci Med Sport. 2004 Mar;7(1):23-31. doi: 10.1016/s1440-2440(04)80040-9.

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to determine the effect of static stretching in a warm-up on hip flexor and quadriceps flexibility as measured by a modified Thomas test and on range of motion (ROM) of the leg and foot speed at impact in kicking a football with maximum effort. Sixteen Australian Rules (AR) footballers performed two different warm-ups on different days. One warm-up involved five minutes of sub-maximum running followed by seven practice kicks, while the other also included 4.5 minutes static stretching of the hip flexors and quadriceps after the running. A modified Thomas test was conduced before and after each warm-up. Players performed maximum effort drop punt kicks into a net while being videotaped to determine the ROM of the kicking leg and foot speed at impact with the ball. There were no significant changes in flexibility (p > 0.05) as a result of either warm-up and there were no significant differences between the warm-ups in the kicking variables (p > 0.05). It was concluded that the Thomas test may not have been sensitive to possible acute changes in flexibility from the warm-ups, and that stretching had no influence on kicking ROM or foot speed, possibly because of the complexity of the kicking skill.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Analysis of Variance
  • Australia
  • Foot / physiology
  • Hip Joint / physiology*
  • Humans
  • Knee Joint / physiology*
  • Leg / physiology
  • Male
  • Muscle, Skeletal / physiology*
  • Pliability*
  • Range of Motion, Articular / physiology*
  • Running
  • Soccer / physiology*
  • Video Recording