Effects of different stretching methods on vertical jump ability and range of motion in young female artistic gymnastics athletes

BACKGROUND: Female artistic gymnastics includes multiple athletic gestures that can be performed by combining jump strength with wide degrees of joint mobility. The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of two different types of stretching on vertical jump height and range of motion in competitive gymnasts and to identify the most suitable stretching protocol for increasing range of motion, without negatively affecting vertical jump performance. METHODS: In a crossover design, following dynamic stretching, static stretching, and control (no stretching), eight competitive female gymnasts (age: 14±2 years; BMI: 18.8±1.42 kg/m, mean±SD) were tested on jump performance through a squat jump, a countermovement jump and an acrobatic gymnastic jump, and on range of motion by measuring the amplitude of the forward oversplit figure. RESULTS: One-way repeated measure ANOVA revealed significant main, very large effect of stretching condition (p<0.01). Post-hoc comparisons showed improvement of squat jump and countermovement jump after dynamic stretching with respect to static stretching and control (p<0.05). Range of motion increased significantly following static stretching with respect to dynamic stretching and control (p<0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Dynamic stretching is recommended in the warm-up to increase vertical jump performance, while specific static stretching should be pursued in the final phase of the training session being a specific technical work for range of motion.