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Sport Research: Tips for Reading and Interpreting StudiesSport research is intended to explain the underlying mechanisms about how athletes function, and suggest ways to improving sport performance. Coaches use their best judgment to make things happen on the field. Understanding how to read and interpret studies makes for better applications to sport and exercise. Research Accuracy
For example, the well publicized Australian army recruit study concluded that preactivity stretching does not produce clinically meaningful reductions in risk of exercise-related injury, suggesting that stretching is a waste of time. But static stretching was performed with other activities, including 12 weeks of fitness training. Of the 333 injuries, 158 occurred in the stretch group and 175 in the nonstretch group (lower for the stretch group, but not statistically significant). There is no way to know the true effect of stretching on risk of injuries because so many other variables (qualities) could also have affected the findings. Results showed that fitness and other variables were statistically significant predictors of injury. "No evidence" in this case means "we don't know". Some natural threats are difficult to control. For example, participants in studies often improve from pretest to posttest simply from the pretest experience itself, but they may not improve equally. This could easily happen with studies on stretching, both from improvements in flexibility and familiarization with the performance testing protocols and equipment. Another threat to accuracy is that there's no guarantee that the researchers will get completely accurate readings from their instruments, or that measurements will be taken exactly the same way for all participants every time. Consider the use of calipers to measure body fat. Do Findings Apply Outside a Study?How well the findings apply to other groups in other situations (external validity) is important for coaches and athletes to know. To what extent does a stretching study using young army recruits apply to seniors over 60? How well does research conducted on elite distance runners in mile-high Colorado Springs apply to high school rugby players in Miami? The answers may be "we don't know", "it depends", or "more research is needed".In order to maintain control, studies on the effects of stretching often involve the use of tests and instruments in the artificial conditions of the lab, but the tests represent performance in real world sports, but to what extent? For example, how well do tests using isokinetic (same speed), concentric contractions (shortening) of a single muscle group in lab conditions apply to accelerating/decelerating, concentric/eccentric multi-joint muscle coordinations used in sports? It's hard to say, but it's quite a leap from the lab to the athletic arena. For tips about sport research: Research Terms Tips for Reading Research Articles For reviews of infomercial product claims, see Fitness As Seen On TV: How Shaky Science Can Mislead Consumers Bender Ball Review For more on sport research and assessment, see Research Assessment Adviser 
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