Effects of Static and Dynamic Stretching on Injury Prevention in High School Soccer Athletes: A Randomized Trial.

OBJECTIVE To determine if there is any benefit to static stretching after performing a dynamic warm-up in the prevention of injury in high school soccer athletes. DESIGN Prospective cluster randomized nonblinded study. SETTING 12 high schools with varsity and junior varsity boys' soccer teams (24 soccer teams) across the state of Michigan. PARTICIPANTS Four hundred ninety-nine student-athletes were enrolled, and 465 completed the study. One high school dropped out of the study in the first week, leaving a total of 22 teams. INTERVENTIONS Dynamic stretching protocol vs dynamic + static (D+S) stretching protocol. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Lower-extremity, core, or lower-back injuries per team. RESULTS Twelve teams performed the dynamic stretching protocol and 10 teams performed the D+S stretching protocol. There were 17 injuries (1.42 ± 1.49 injuries/ team) among the teams that performed the dynamic stretching protocol and 20 injuries (2.0 ± 1.24 injuries/ team) among the teams that performed the D+S protocol. There was no statistically significant difference in injuries between the 2 groups (P = .33). CONCLUSIONS There is no difference between dynamic stretching and D+S stretching in the prevention of lower-extremity, core, and back injuries in high school male soccer athletes. Static stretching does not provide any added benefit to dynamic stretching in the prevention of injury in this population before exercise.