There is actually some debate over this. Here is an article on the subject.
http://www.elitesoccerconditioning.com/S...
Many coaches advocate the use of static stretching prior to exercise. Static stretching involves reaching forward to a point of tension and holding the stretch. Static stretching has been used through out the years for two main reasons: injury prevention and performance enhancement. (1) Does static stretching prior to activity achieve the goals of injury prevention and performance enhancement? Research has shown that static stretching can be detrimental to performance and doesn’t necessarily lead to decreases in injury. Below are a few studies done on the topic of static stretching:
Rod Pope an army physiotherapist in Australia, recently carried out a wide study to assess the relationship between static stretching and injury prevention. Pope monitored over 1600 recruits over the course of a year in randomised controlled trials. He found no differences in the occurrence of injury between those recruits who statically stretched and those who did not. (1, 2)
“Gleim & McHugh (1997), would also challenge the premise that stretching, or indeed increased flexibility, reduces the risk of injury” (1,3)
New research has shown that static stretching decreases eccentric strength for up to an hour after the stretch. Static stretching has been shown to decrease muscle strength by up to 9% for 60 minutes following the stretch and decrease eccentric strength by 7% followed by a specific hamstring stretch. (4)
Rosenbaum and Hennig showed that static stretching reduced peak force by 5% and the rate of force production by 8%. This study was about Achilles tendon reflex activity. (5)
Gerard van der poel stated that static stretching caused a specific decrease in the specific coordination of explosive movements. (4)
Three 15-second stretches of the hamstrings, quadriceps, and calf muscles reduced the peak vertical velocity of a vertical jump in the majority of subjects (Knudson et al. 2000). (6,7)
Moscov (1993) found that there is no relationship between static flexibility and dynamic flexibility. This suggests that an increased static range of motion may not be translated into functional, sport-specific flexibility, which is largely dynamic in most sporting situations (1)
Static based stretching programs seem best suited following an activity. (8)
