Ballistic Stretching Increases Flexibility and Acute Vertical Jump Height When Combined with Basketball Activity

2360 Stretching is often included as part of a warm-up procedure for basketball activity. However, the efficacy of stretching with respect to performance has come into question. PURPOSE: We determined the effects of four different warm-up protocols and subsequent basketball activity on flexibility and vertical jump height. METHODS: Forty-three beginning and intermediate basketball students participated in six weeks (2x/week) of basketball activity. Subjects were divided into four groups according to type of warm-up activity: ballistic stretching, static stretching, sprinting, or basketball shooting (control group). Subjects engaged in a 10 minute overall warm-up as follows: 3 minutes of basketball running drills followed by 7 minutes of their experimental warm-up. The warm-up was followed by 20 minutes of basketball play. We measured flexibility via sit and reach and vertical jump height before (at week −1) and after (at week 7) the six weeks (PRE SIT, POST SIT, PRE VJ, and POST VJ, respectively). In addition, we measured vertical jump height every two weeks immediately after the warm-up (wk 0 pre, wk 2 pre, wk 4 pre, wk 6 pre) and immediately after the 20 minute basketball play (wk 0 post, wk 2 post, wk 4 post, wk 6 post). RESULTS: Flexibility increased for the ballistic, static, and sprint groups compared to the control group(p<0.0001). The ballistic group had the greatest increase (3.3 ± 3.3 cm), followed by the sprint (3.0 ± 2.7 cm), and static (2.2 ± 3.0 cm). Vertical jump height was not different over the six weeks for any of the groups (pre VJ; wks 0,2,4,6 pre; and post VJ). However, the ballistic group demonstrated an increase in vertical jump after basketball play when compared to the previous measure on the same day (3.4 ± 2.9 cm increase; p = 0.003). CONCLUSIONS: Ballistic stretching had the greatest increase in flexibility, as well an increase in vertical jump height that was not observed in other groups when followed by 20 min of basketball play. Ballistic stretching can be included as a beneficial component of a basketball warm-up for flexibility and acute vertical jump height increase in recreational basketball participants.