Acute effects of prolonged durations of static stretching on athletic performance and flexibility

This study aimed to examine the acute effects of prolonged static stretching (SS) versus dynamic stretching (DS), followed by either tennis-specific activation or rest, on physical performance in collegiate tennis players. A randomized crossover trial was conducted with 31 collegiate tennis players. Each participant completed three interventions: (A) SS + activation, (B) DS + activation, and (C) SS + rest. Lower limb muscles were stretching for 3 minutes per group. The activation were tennis footwork drill for 6 minutes. Physical performance was assessed after stretching and after activation using sit-and-reach flexibility, standing long jump (SLJ), agility T-Test, and hand grip strength. Two-way repeated-measures ANOVA was used. Immediately after stretching, SS significantly improved flexibility (sit-and-reach: p < 0.05) but impaired SLJ performance (p < 0.05) and agility (p < 0.05) compared to DS. Crucially, after sport-specific activation exercises, the initial performance declines observed following SS were mitigated, resulting in no significant differences between SS and DS in subsequent SLJ and T-Test performances. Prolonged SS improves flexibility, it temporarily impair agility and explosive performance, however, these drawbacks can be effectively offset through subsequent sport-specific activation exercise.