The value of stretching has come into question over the past few years. There have been at least 3 studies that have demonstrated that pre-activity stretching in a group of healthy individuals did not prevent or reduce the incidence of injuries versus those who did not stretch.
This has led to other studies that have shown that pre-activity stretching with resistance (weight) training led to a decline in peak strength during the activity. There is also evidence that indicates that stretching without a proper warm-up can actually cause injuries. So are we supposed to stop stretching?
The short answer is no. Stretching if done properly should be part of your overall training regimen, and is an essential part of a rehabilitation program if you are recovering from an injury. Ideally, you should do light activity such as a jog to warm up the body prior to stretching. Cooling down is the same, do a light jog then finish with the stretches. When doing stretches be sure you don’t bounce because you can injure the muscle by overstretching. Try holding a stretch just short of the point of discomfort for 10 to 60 seconds, relax and repeat 3 times.
For injury rehabilitation, stretching is vital to restore range of motion, break up scar tissue and adhesions that form as a normal part of the healing process, and helps in the neurological retraining of movement patterns by stimulating joint receptors.
As for research- maybe the benefits of stretching are an answer in search of the right question.