Whats the dealio? where do i start? also the benefits?

What are you stretching for?

Static stretching is bad to do before athletic performance and seen as almost useless by many strength coaches. Although some static stretches are useful like the static hip stretch Defranco describes in his article THE FABULOUS 15 “Top 15 Exercises for Higher Vertical Jumps”
http://www.defrancostraining.com/articles/archive/article_fab15.htm

#2 Static Hip Flexor Stretch – In general, we’re not big fans of static stretching, especially before performing explosive activities. This stretch is a major exception. Try this. Perform a vertical jump and record the height. Then, static stretch your hip flexors – 2 sets of 30 seconds each leg. Really stretch the sh** out of them! Stretch as if you’re trying to tear that hip flexor off the bone, baby! Don’t just go through the motions! Now jump again. Chances are you’ll jump ½” – 2” higher, just by static stretching the hip flexors. Why is this, you say? We’ll tell you. You see, most athletes have super-tight hip flexors. When you jump, tight hip flexors cause a lot of friction, preventing you from fully extending at the hip, as well as reaching as high as you can. By static stretching them immediately before you jump, you not only stretch them out, but also “put them to sleep” do to the long, slow stretch. This causes less friction at the hip when you jump. This results in higher jumps. You will be amazed at how well this works. (By the way, the hip flexors are the only muscles you would ever want to static stretch before jumping.) It is also a good idea for athletes to get in the habit of stretching their hip flexors everyday, not just before jumping. This will help to increase your stride length when you run, as well as prevent hamstring pulls and low-back pain.

Dynamic stretching is held highly by most.

not pre workout, post or before bed or something, it is suppost to aid recovery right?

Stretching post workout helps with the lactic acid It also increases circulation, so yes it would help recovery.

Static stretching is great if you have the time and you do the breathing and focus right. It's just looked down upon because people don't do it right.

I am learning to do the splits.

It is hard. I pulled a muscle in my left butt cheek. It sucked. It took 2 weeks to heal.

I've found that Dynamic Stretching has really help me get closer to my goals. But I do both.

http://www.bushyoga.com/big-poses/halasana.jpg
http://www.bushyoga.com/big-poses/virabhadrasana_ii.jpg
http://www.bushyoga.com/big-poses/utthita_trikonasana.jpg
http://www.bushyoga.com/big-poses/utthita_hasta_padangusthasana.jpg
http://www.alaskaartguild.com/Yoga/images/6.jpg
http://www.pumayoga.net/puma_fwd_split_and_flower_op_800x379.jpg
http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2002/06/21/yoga_zoom.jpg