Watch a goalkeeper stretch to tip a shot around the post, or a striker reach a high ball with an acrobatic volley, and you are seeing flexibility in action. For many years, long stretching sessions were a standard part of every warm-up. Today, sports science gives a more detailed picture.
So, how important is flexibility training in sports? The short answer is that it matters, but how and when you do it matters even more. This article explains what flexibility training is, what research says about stretching before exercise, how it relates to injuries in football, and how modern clubs combine flexibility with strength work.
What Is Flexibility Training?
Flexibility is the range of motion around a joint, such as how far you can lift your leg or rotate your hips. Flexibility training aims to maintain or improve that range. Footballers need it to stretch for tackles, strike the ball with full power and move freely when changing direction.
There are several main types. Static stretching means holding a position, such as a hamstring stretch, for a period of time. Dynamic stretching uses controlled movements, like leg swings or walking lunges, that take muscles through their range. Proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) combines stretching with short muscle contractions, often with a partner.
How Much Flexibility Training Do Athletes Need?
The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) recommends that adults do flexibility exercises on at least two or three days a week. It advises holding each stretch for 10 to 30 seconds, repeated two to four times, and notes that stretching is most effective when muscles are already warm, for example after a training session or a light jog.
Static or Dynamic Before a Match?
This is where views have changed most. A major 2016 systematic review by David Behm and colleagues, published in Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism, found that holding static stretches for 60 seconds or more per muscle group reduced performance by an average of 4.6%. Shorter static stretches of under 60 seconds caused a much smaller drop of around 1.1%.
Dynamic stretching showed a small average performance improvement of 1.3%. The same review found that when static stretches were followed by dynamic, sport-specific activities, there was no clear negative effect. This explains why most football warm-ups now rely on movement-based drills, with any static stretches kept short or saved for after training.
Flexibility and Injuries in Football
Muscle injuries are a major problem in professional football, and hamstrings are the biggest concern. The UEFA Elite Club Injury Study, which has tracked top European clubs since 2001, found that hamstring injuries rose from 12% of all injuries in 2001/02 to 24% in 2021/22. Over the same period, their share of total injury absence days doubled from 10% to 20%.
Many hamstring injuries happen during high-speed running, when the muscle is working while it lengthens. Good flexibility helps players reach these positions, but evidence that stretching alone prevents injuries is mixed. Stronger results come from exercises that build strength while the muscle is lengthening, known as eccentric training.
Strength Through Range: Nordic and Copenhagen Exercises
The Nordic hamstring exercise is the best-known example. Players kneel while a partner holds their ankles, then lower their body slowly towards the ground. A meta-analysis by Nicol van Dyk and colleagues found that injury prevention programmes including the Nordic exercise reduced hamstring injury risk by about 51%. It is now part of FIFA’s 11+ warm-up programme.
A similar idea works for the groin. In a 2019 trial published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, Norwegian researcher Joar Harøy and colleagues found that the Copenhagen adduction exercise, a side plank with the top leg supported on a bench, lowered the risk of groin problems among male football players by 41%.
Flexibility in Practice: The Long Career
Some players have made flexibility work a personal priority. Ryan Giggs, who played for Manchester United until he was 40, has often credited yoga with helping him extend his career. Many clubs now include yoga, Pilates or mobility sessions in their weekly programmes, especially for older players and those returning from injury.
The Verdict
Flexibility training is important in sports, but it works best as part of a wider plan. Use dynamic movements before playing, keep any pre-match static stretches under 60 seconds, and do longer stretching sessions after training two or three times a week. Most importantly, combine flexibility with strength. For footballers, the goal is not simply to reach further, but to stay strong and in control at the end of that range.