Collapse BoxAbstract
The aim of the study was to investigate the knowledge and practices of collegiate-certified athletic trainers (ATs) in the United States. Participants (n= 521) were provided an overview of the study, as well as a hyperlink to a web-based survey. The "Pre- and Post-Activity Practices in Athletic Training Questionnaire" consisted of demographic items and elements to measure knowledge and practices related to pre- and post-activity stretching routines. In previous studies, the survey demonstrated construct validity, [alpha] = .722. Pearson chi-square test was used to evaluate goodness of fit, and kappa was calculated to measure agreement between items. Only 32.2% of ATs recommended dynamic stretching (DS) to be performed pre-activity, whereas a larger percentage (42.2%) recommended a combination of static stretching (SS) and DS. ATs reported that only 28.0% of athletes are performing DS prior to activity. Conversely, 60.6% of collegiate ATs recommended SS post-exercise, and 61.0% of athletes agree and perform post-workout static stretching ([kappa]=0.761, P