title: Static stretching of the hamstring muscle for injury prevention in football codes: a systematic review.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Hamstring injuries are common among football players. There is still disagreement regarding prevention. The aim of this review is to determine whether static stretching reduces hamstring injuries in football codes.
  
  
  METHODS
  A systematic literature search was conducted on the online databases PubMed, PEDro, Cochrane, Web of Science, Bisp and Clinical Trial register. Study results were presented descriptively and the quality of the studies assessed were based on Cochrane's 'risk of bias' tool.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The review identified 35 studies, including four analysis studies. These studies show deficiencies in the quality of study designs.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The study protocols are varied in terms of the length of intervention and follow-up. No RCT studies are available, however, RCT studies should be conducted in the near future.
authors.affiliation: Bern University of Applied Sciences, Health, Bern, Switzerland ; AfiPT, Akademie für integrative Physiotherapie und Trainingslehre, Grenzach-Wyhlen, Germany.
authors.forename: Slavko
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rogan
authors.forename: Dirk
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wüst
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Schwitter
authors.forename: Dietmar
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Schmidtbleicher
keywords: American Football; Flexibility; Prevention of Muscle Lesion; Soccer