Static stretching before shooting does not change the score

The summary today

The registry holds a single study comparing static stretching with no stretching before shooting: 30 intermediate Turkish archers, 15 women and 15 men of about 17, shoot 30 arrows at 18 metres on three different days in random order, after five minutes of easy running and their usual warm-up. After static stretching, three sets of 15 seconds on five shoulder exercises, the score is 245.5 against 246.2 without stretching: less than one point out of 300, with a spread between archers of 12 to 14 points. The test gives p = 0.055, though, just above the threshold, so the null result is borderline: with thirty people a difference this small can be neither confirmed nor ruled out. What can be said is that in this sample static stretching did no visible harm over a short test, not that it makes no difference in competition or for stronger archers. The authors cite a 2016 Turkish paper in which static stretching reportedly made no difference to performance, but it could not be verified and the registry does not count it. In the same study dynamic stretching lowered the score to 244.8, and that is a separate entry in the registry.

Also phrased as: "stretching before shooting"; "static stretching in the warm-up"; "shoulder stretching before competition"; "stretching saps strength"

Evidence

• 2021
  For Archers Published later

  30 intermediate Turkish archers, 15 women and 15 men of about 17, in three conditions in random order 72 hours apart: after static shoulder stretching the score over 30 arrows at 18 m is 245.47 ± 13.58 against 246.20 ± 12.19 without stretching (Wilcoxon Z = -1.92, p = 0.055).

  Acute Effect of Dynamic and Static Stretching Exercises on Targeting Performance in Archery · Bulent Turna, Burcu Bayazit, Mehmet Emre Eryucel, Mustafa Yildiz, Mehmet Bilgin Karademir

• 2021
  Context Archers Published later

  The protocol: five minutes of submaximal running and a sport-specific warm-up, then three sets of 15 seconds with 10 seconds' rest on five shoulder exercises. The p of 0.055 sits just above the threshold: the null result is not clear-cut, and with thirty people a difference of 0.7 points can be neither confirmed nor ruled out.

  Acute Effect of Dynamic and Static Stretching Exercises on Targeting Performance in Archery · Bulent Turna, Burcu Bayazit, Mehmet Emre Eryucel, Mustafa Yildiz, Mehmet Bilgin Karademir

Status history

1. 2021 Reported The only study of the question that the registry has been able to verify is a crossover on thirty intermediate archers: after static shoulder stretching the score over 30 arrows at 18 metres is 245.5 against 246.2 without stretching. The difference comes close to the threshold, though (p = 0.055), so the null result is borderline rather than clear, and there is only one study: evidence in favour, and limited.

Related

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Research lines

• 39 studiesPhysical training interventions: what has been tested

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