SE Academic Review 2023

50 ST EDWARD’S, OXFORD

6 .

An Investigation into the Effect of Stretching on Hockey Performance Research Question: What is the effect of a stretching programme on performance in adolescent girl hockey players? By Lila Howard

Introduction

Hockey has been a passion of mine since I was young, and I am intrigued by what factors makes you a better hockey player. In recent years I have been inspired by the England hockey teams, both men and women, and their successes, such as the Women’s team reaching the final in the 2012 Olympics and winning the gold in 2016. Hockey is a fast and powerful game that requires athletes to perform complex movements through multiple planes of motion whilst having lightning reactions to a continuously changing environment.

Ercole C Rubini’s study also suggests an increase in performance from stretching as his conclusion states that ‘training for flexibility and strength is widely recommended for those who wish to attain good fitness levels’ (Rubini, et al., 2007). However, it is unclear who it has an effect on. As young adolescents are not fully developed the intervention of a stretching programme may have a different effect on performance. Whether or not it makes a significant change as it does with adults or possibly even more, stretching is said to be more important

Three components of fitness that are vital and are most regularly used during hockey are power, agility and speed ( The S and C Coach , 2015). In order to cope with complex, physical demands of the sport, England Hockey use their own strength and conditioning programmes which include a stretching programme ( The S and C Coach , 2015). It seems this is for good reason as Evan Peck’s study shows the effect of stretching on performance and concludes that ‘static stretching is best for the period after activity’ (Peck, et al., 2014).