Stretching is a key component in preventing pulled or strained muscles with all athletes. As athletic trainers we look at 2 purposes of stretching. One is to warm up a muscle before athletic activities. The second is to improve flexibility, which may be needed to perform an activity at it fullest and safely. It is important that the muscles in the body are balanced from side-to-side and front to back in order to prevent injuries to both the muscles and joints. Hamstring strains are one of the most common injuries associated with soccer. These injuries frequently occur as a player accelerates or makes a sudden change of direction. The medical literature has found the major contributing factors with these injures are 1) age, over 25 years old (sorry coaches) and 2) tightness in the quadriceps and hip flexors muscles, which are muscles that oppose the hamstrings. This is an important reason for stretching muscles throughout the body not just the ones susceptible to injury. Pictured below are key stretches for warm up and injury prevention. Other stretches are important to use in your program
Stretches should be performed slow and controlled, holding for 10 seconds during warm-ups and for 30 seconds to improve flexibility or loosen-up a pulled muscle. It is best to perform a 5-minute warm-up before stretching and for practices follow-up your stretches with agility drills, which are forms of dynamic stretching which include, straight leg kicking, high knee and carioca running drill. It is best to run these drills at ½ speed, focusing on proper form and technique.
For further information check out http://www.performancesportsmed.com/ or http://www.nata.org/industryresources/parentandcoachesguide.pdf and click on "public".
