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Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of different static and dynamic stretch protocols on a 20-meter sprint. 97 male soccer players were randomly assigned to 4 groups. (i) Passive static stretch (PSS) (n=28), (ii) active dynamic stretch (ADS) (n=22), (iii) active static stretch (ASS) (n=24), (iv) static dynamic stretch (SDS) (n=23). All groups performed a standard 10-min. jog as the warm – up, followed by two 20-m sprints. The 20-m sprints were repeated after subjects performed different stretch protocols. The PSS and ASS groups had a significant increase in sprint period (P?0.05), while the ADS group had a significant decrease in sprint period (p?0.05). It was concluded that static stretching as part of a warm-up may decease short sprint performance, while active dynamic stretching seems to increase 20-m sprint performance

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