Need help with stretching

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May 6, 2012
149
16
Texas
I am need of advise for stretching before practice/games. I help coach a 12u team who is gonna be 14u soon. Now our girls are 13 and 12 year olds and we have had a few injuries that have come back from the doctor as injuries to growth plates. Who did those who have gone through this growing time dealt with and prevented these kind of injuries?

Also an specific stretches that we could add into would as well. We are currently doing the basic arm and leg stretches and give the girls plenty of time to stretch before practice. We use to have them circle off and count but have slowly gone away from that. Which Im thinking might be something to go back to.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.
 
Jan 25, 2011
2,282
38
Don't do static stretching, you want to do dynamic warm ups, the days holding your arms,legs or what ever and counting are over. That was way of the past, you need to get the blood flowing, the nervous system awake and standing there and holding a static stretch does nothing, but put the muscles to sleep. You can do stretching after practice as a cool down.
 
Oct 11, 2010
8,337
113
Chicago, IL
we have had a few injuries that have come back from the doctor as injuries to growth plates. Who did those who have gone through this growing time dealt with and prevented these kind of injuries?

I am not a Doctor but I am not sure you can prevent this type of injury no matter what you do as a parent or a coach. DD has a growth plate issue in her foot.
 
Sep 17, 2009
1,637
83
I always hear NOT to do static stretching, but can't it be PART of the warmup, ie slow stretch first just to get the kinks out and then do dynamic stretching....building to something that's at least a bit aerobic to get the blood flow/heart pumping a bit, like cherry-pickers, karaokes, down and backs etc....

Is there an actual downside to brief static stretching? (If I can be convinced, I guess we'll stop it altogether...but a few minutes circled up doesn't seem harmful and feels like a good part of a routine...)

By the way, if you search for Austin Wasserman (austinwass) and PM him he'll send you a nice PDF with a bunch of dynamic warmups....he offered in another post and was kind enough to send them to me...
 
Oct 25, 2009
3,345
48
I always hear NOT to do static stretching, but can't it be PART of the warmup, ie slow stretch first just to get the kinks out and then do dynamic stretching....building to something that's at least a bit aerobic to get the blood flow/heart pumping a bit, like cherry-pickers, karaokes, down and backs etc....

Is there an actual downside to brief static stretching? (If I can be convinced, I guess we'll stop it altogether...but a few minutes circled up doesn't seem harmful and feels like a good part of a routine...)

By the way, if you search for Austin Wasserman (austinwass) and PM him he'll send you a nice PDF with a bunch of dynamic warmups....he offered in another post and was kind enough to send them to me...

We jog 3 laps around the inside of the fence to get the system warmed up. After that I'm pretty sure it is safe enough to do static stretching. At least as far as being warmed up.
 

Greenmonsters

Wannabe Duck Boat Owner
Feb 21, 2009
6,168
38
New England
We jog 3 laps around the inside of the fence to get the system warmed up. After that I'm pretty sure it is safe enough to do static stretching. At least as far as being warmed up.

I think you've missed the point SBP. Static strectching actually limits performance; dynamic warm ups focused on sport-specific movements are more effective. Check out the host site for this forum, follow up on Austin's offer above, talk to exercise or physical therapy specialists etc.
 
Oct 25, 2009
3,345
48
I think you've missed the point SBP. Static strectching actually limits performance; dynamic warm ups focused on sport-specific movements are more effective. Check out the host site for this forum, follow up on Austin's offer above, talk to exercise or physical therapy specialists etc.

My bad—what was I thinking? We do dynamic stretching after the jog. We do an abbreviated form of static stretching AFTER workouts. Very abbreviated; we hang from an overhead bar for 20 seconds.
 

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