I'd heard rumors about how stretching could actually cause problems before an athletic effort or running. I'd stopped most of my stretching at a younger age because I'd never noticed an impact, pro or con, to those times I did stretch vs. those times I didn't. Figured I'd get loose just by starting a bit slow or doing something aerobic before I get into the larger efforts.
Or it could just be that I wanted to play sooner.
Either way, it turns out that stretching has absolutely no impact to injury prevention before running. Tests have apparently also shown that static stretching causes your muscles to attempt to "protect" themselves by tightening up (high jumpers cannot jump as high after a bout of static stretching).
The only warning given in the referenced article is that any behavior you're doing today, slowly stop doing it. If you stretch today, your body may be used to it and expect that stretching, so it could lead to injury if you stop cold turkey.
Interesting article and findings. For those coaches of youth sports out there, this should give you 5-10 minutes of your practice back!
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/01/phys-ed-does-stretching-before-running-prevent-injuries/
