An youth athlete's natural flexibility varies by age. Athletes with poor muscle flexibility experience more soreness, tenderness and pain after exercise. The less flexible the muscle the more easily it can be injured. Use these simple tests to test flexibility of the major muscles and tendons prone to injury in soccer.
Unfortunately, soccer is not a sport like gymnastics or swimming that naturally develops flexibility. As a result, staying flexible is even more important for children playing soccer. The importance of stretching [1] during warm-up before a practice or game, and during the cool-down after practice cannot be overemphasized.
An article in the American Journal of Sports Medicine (AJSM) found that athletes with poor muscle flexibility experience more soreness, tenderness and pain after exercise. The less flexible the muscle the more easily it sustains damage.
Another AJSM study suggests that the most common soccer injury linked to poor flexibility is a groin strain. This is obviously the area that has to be kept the most flexible.
Here are some simple tests tailored for soccer that you can use to test your child's flexibility:
GROIN FLEXIBILITY
HIP FLEXIBILITY
HAMSTRING FLEXIBILITY
ANKLE (ACHILLES TENDON) FLEXIBILITY
QUADRICEPS (FRONT OF THIGH) FLEXIBILITY
Links:
[1] https://momsteam.com/alpha/departments/regularseason/importance_of_stretching.shtml
[2] https://momsteam.com/health-safety/general-safety/injury-prevention/dynamic-stretching-recommended-as-part-sports-warm-up
[3] https://momsteam.com/health-safety/stretching-warm-ups-and-cool-downs-prevent-youth-spor
[4] https://momsteam.com/health-safety/improving-flexibility-resistance-training-as-good-as-static-stretching
[5] https://momsteam.com/health-safety/stretching-exercises-maintain-shoulder-flexibility-reduce-injury-risk
[6] https://momsteam.com/sports/aerobic-warm-up-dynamic-stretching-reduce-tennis-injuries