The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of static and dynamic stretching on quadriceps muscle activation during maximal soccer instep kicking. The kicking motion of twelve male college soccer players (body height: 174.66 ± 5.01 cm; body mass: 72.83 ± 4.83 kg; age: 18.83 ± 0.75 years) was captured using six synchronized high-speed infra-red cameras whilst electromyography (EMG) signals from vastus medialis (VM), lateralis (VL) and rectus femoris (RF) were recorded before and after static or dynamic stretching. Analysis of variance designs showed a higher increase in knee extension angular velocity (9.65% vs. -1.45%, p < 0.001), RF (37.5% vs. -8.33%, p < 0.001), VM (12% vs. -12%, p < 0.018), and VL EMG activity (20% vs. -6.67%, p < 0.001) after dynamic stretching exercises. Based on these results, it could be suggested that dynamic stretching is probably more effective in increasing quadriceps muscle activity and knee extension angular velocity during the final swing phase of a maximal soccer instep kick than static stretching.
Keywords: Kicking velocity; Muscle activation; Quadriceps; Warm-up.