Examination of the effects of static stretching applications performed at different durations on performance

The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of static stretching performed for different durations on performance. The study included students enrolled at the Faculty of Sports Sciences at Yozgat Bozok University in 2025, with an average age of 20.83 ± 1.62 years, an average height of 177.90 ± 6.17 cm, an average body weight of 75.56 ± 11.71 kg, and an average sports experience of 7.20 ± 3.53 years, who were actively competing at the licensed level in the sport of wrestling. Data were collected using a demographic information form, a handgrip strength test (Takei A5401, Japan), a balance test (Togu Challenge Disc 2.0), a reaction time test (Fitlight), a vertical jump measurement test (Fit Jump), a flexibility test (sit-and-reach test), and a 30-meter sprint test (electronic photoelectric system). For the analysis of the data in the study, the Shapiro-Wilk test, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) for repeated measures, Bonferroni-corrected post-hoc test, Friedman test, and Wilcoxon Signed-Rank test were used. For all statistical analyses, a significance level of p < 0.05 was accepted, and the IBM SPSS Statistics 24 software package was used for the analyses. In conclusion, it was found that an increase in static stretching duration led to a statistically significant improvement in flexibility performance; conversely, there was a statistically significant decrease in handgrip strength, vertical jump, and 30-meter sprint performance. It was also found that there were statistically significant differences in balance performance between measurements, and that balance performance improved as the stretching duration increased. Regarding reaction time, statistically significant differences were found between measurements, and it was observed that reaction time decreased with longer stretching durations.