The purpose of this study was to compare the acute effects of
three different stretching protocols on balance, agility, reaction
time and movement time of the upper limbs. Participants were
thirty one female high school athletes (age = 17.3 ± 0.5 yr.). All
participants performed one of the following protocols on different days: (a) 3 min jogging followed by 7 min static stretching
(SS), (b) 3 min jogging followed by 7 min dynamic stretching
(DS), and (c) 3 min jogging followed by 7 min of rest (NS).
After the protocols participants performed the following tests:
dynamic balance, 505 agility test, reaction time (time between a
sound stimulus and release of a button) and movement time
(movement of the upper extremity over a 0.5 m distance). The
order of stretching protocols and performance tests were counterbalanced to avoid carryover effects. Repeated measures analysis of variance revealed significant main effects for all variables except reaction time. The DS protocol compared to SS
performed significantly better in balance, agility and movement
time. Additionally, the DS protocol compared to NS performed
significantly better in agility. According to the results of the
study, a DS protocol is more appropriate than SS for activities
that require balance, rapid change of running direction (agility)
and movement time of the upper extremities.