The effects of a combined static-dynamic stretching protocol on athletic performance in elite GAA athletes. A randomised controlled crossover trial

Introduction: Recently dynamic stretching (DS) has become more popular in field sports. Athletes still perform static stretching (SS) before competition despite available evidence indicating its detrimental effect on performance. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of a static-dynamic stretching protocol on sprint and jump performance in elite level Gaelic footballers.Method: 17 male elite level Gaelic footballers (mean age 20.9 years old, range 18-30, mean weight 79.9kg (SD10.89), mean height 178.6cm (SD 6.37)) completed three stretching protocols in a double-blind, controlled crossover trial. Performance measurements of sprinting (10m, 20m, 40m) and jumping (counter movement jump (CMJ) height and power) were taken at baseline and after each intervention. The three stretching protocols included a SS-DS, SS-rest and rest-rest. Results: SS reduced sprint speed by 1.1% over 40m and 1.0% over 20m. CMJ height was reduced 10.6% and jump power was reduced by 6.4% following SS. When SS was followed by DS sprint performance improved by 1.0% over 20m and 0.7% over 40m. (p