Comparison of the acute effects of static and dynamic stretching exercises on the balance performance of Turkish wrestlers.

Background: The importance of dynamic and static stretching exercises on motoric abilities before an athletic performance is well known. However, there is limited information about their effects on balance performance. For this reason, this study aimed to investigate the acute effects of static and dynamic stretching exercises on wrestlers' balance performance and compare wrestlers' balance levels according to their wrestling styles.

Method: A total of 28 wrestlers who performed dynamic stretching (n = 14) and static stretching (n = 14) protocols voluntarily participated in the study. Data were collected using Togu Challenge Disc 2.0. An independent samples t-test was applied to compare the data that were determined to show normal distribution.

Results: When comparing dynamic balance according to warm-up protocols, it was found that there was a significant difference in favor of wrestlers who performed dynamic stretching (p = 0.023). However, no statistically significant difference was found between static and dynamic stretching groups in terms of static balance (p = 0.238). Additionally, while a significant difference was observed in the wrestlers' dynamic balance scores in both dynamic and static stretching exercises in favor of freestyle wrestlers (p = 0.008; p = 0.022), a significant difference was found in static balance scores in favor of Greco-Roman wrestlers (p = 0.014; p = 0.018).

Conclusion: Dynamic stretching exercises were found to support wrestlers' balance performance more than static stretching. The results showed that the different warm-up protocols applied before training and competition can have different effects on the wrestlers' performance. Therefore, it is suggested that wrestlers should prefer warm-up protocols including dynamic stretching exercises to optimize pre-performance balance outcomes.