Knee Pain During Pike And Straddle Stretches

[Tyler Gibson]

When I perform both pike and straddle stretches I experience a dull pain and tightness on either side of the back of my knee. The pain is more noticeable during straddle stretches, especially pancake.  It feels like it is stressing something in the joint, but I don't know my anatomy well enough to know whether it is a tendon or ligament, or just part of the hamstring.

 

My question is whether this is due to stress on a tendon, or simply a lack of flexibility. I know long stretching sessions are necessary for someone with poor flexibility such as myself, but this makes me nervous about performing stretches of this nature for extended periods of time.