Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation for Athletic Performance and Rehabilitation: A Narrative Review

Proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) is increasingly applied beyond rehabilitation to athletic performance training, yet direct evidence in athletes is limited and scattered across clinical and non-athlete literature.

In this narrative review, literature published mainly between 2015 and 2025 was identified by a single author through non-systematic, iterative searches of PubMed, Semantic Scholar, and Google Scholar and by reference-list checking, without fixed search strings or formal screening. Sources were classified as direct PNF evidence in athletes or physically active individuals, direct PNF evidence in clinical populations, or indirect evidence from the broader neuromuscular training, motor learning, and rehabilitation literature.

Fourteen PNF-specific sources were identified, including three primary studies in athletes. Direct evidence was most consistent for range of motion. Findings for strength, power, and agility were mixed: in athletes, PNF was not superior to other stretching methods, and one systematic review reported acute performance decrements after PNF stretching. Clinical studies (e.g., stroke, low back pain) reported improvements in pain, balance, and gait, but these cannot be generalized to athletes. No PNF study measured injury incidence, return-to-sport outcomes, or markers of neuroplasticity.

PNF may be viewed as a component of broader neuromuscular training rather than solely as a stretching technique. Its links to injury-related factors, motor learning, and neuroplasticity are potential mechanisms inferred from indirect evidence rather than established outcomes.

Direct evidence for PNF is currently most consistent for range of motion; effects on performance are mixed, and effects on injury risk and neuroplasticity in athletes remain hypothetical. Randomized trials using standardized PNF protocols in clearly defined populations of athletes are needed.