ECSS Paris 2023: OP-AP16
INTRODUCTION: Badminton is a fast-paced racket sport that hits a shuttlecock in rallies approximately once per second (Iizuka et al. 2020). Thus, agility is required to gain an advantage in matches. Agility in badminton is characterized by frequent lunges (badminton-specific agility). Although previous study conducted a custom-made badminton-specific agility test and showed that players at a higher competitive level tend to have greater badminton-specific agility (Ando et al. 2024), the factors influencing badminton-specific agility in each leg remain unknown. This study examined the relationship between leg muscle strength and badminton-specific agility in elite players. METHODS: Twenty-seven male and twenty-three female world class or elite/international level badminton players completed the following tests: (1) the badminton-specific agility test (Ando et al. 2024), which measures the time taken to reach sensors placed at the four corners of a badminton singles court using badminton-specific movements including lunges; and (2) the isokinetic knee extension strength test at angular velocities of 60°/s and 180°/s. Spearman’s test was used to assess the relationships between them. The significance level was set at p<0.05. RESULTS: Significant inverse correlations were found between the knee extension torque per body mass for the non-dominant leg (non-racket hand side) both at 60°/s and 180°/s and reach time of badminton-specific agility (males at 60°/s: r_s = −.619; males at 180°/s: r_s = −.579; females at 60°/s: r_s = −.445; females at 180°/s: r_s = −.446), whereas only at 60°/s was inversely correlated for the dominant leg (males: r_s = −.413; females: r_s = −.490). DISCUSSION: One of the main roles of the non-dominant leg during lunges in badminton is to accelerate the body. Thus, it was speculated that higher knee extension strength contributed to increased lunge speed and subsequently enhanced badminton-specific agility. On the other hand, the dominant leg plays a role in returning to its original position after a shot with a lunge. The foot contact time of the dominant leg during lunge is approximately 0.7s (Lam et al. 2017) and is considered to be longer than that of the non-dominant leg. Taken these facts and this study’s result together, knee extension strength of the dominant leg in the low-speed range, which is closer to the actual movement speed, is considered to be important. CONCLUSION: The most notable finding of this study is that knee extension strength is crucial for badminton-specific agility even in world class and elite/international level players. Additionally, the results suggest that there is a different demand for force production between the dominant and non-dominant legs. Training the knee extensor muscles at an appropriate speed corresponding to lunge movements may enhance badminton-specific agility. REFERENCE: Iizuka et al. (2020). Sports, 8, 19. Ando et al. (2024). Physiol. Rep., 12, e16058. Lam et al. (2017). PLOS ONE, 12(3), e0174604.
Read CV Hirotaka NakashimaECSS Paris 2023: OP-AP16
INTRODUCTION: Rugby union (RU) athletes are at risk of concussion due to the contact nature of the sport. There are biological differences between females and males, however there is a lack of evidence on female RU athletes . Female athletes are more susceptible to sport-related concussions (SRCs ) and experience worse outcomes than male athletes (McGroarty, et al.,2020). Neck training modalities can provide greater protection in men’s sport (Daly, et al., 2021), but there is a paucity of research exploring neck training in female rugby. The purpose of this study was to assess the changes in neck strength between three different 8-week isometric neck strength protocols in female Rugby Union players. METHODS: Participants were matched random assigned based of the sum of the individuals total preintervention neck strength (flexion (F), extension (E), left-side flexion (LSF), and right-side flexion (RSF)) to either a Hypertrophy Training (HST) group, Maximal Strength Training (MST) group or World Rugby injury prevention (WRIP) group. Thirty-nine participants with 10 Premiership Women’s Rugby (PWR) player and 29 UK collegiate rugby athletes undertook the interventions. Three sets per week were performed in addition to their usual strength and conditioning program. The WRIP (N=15) followed a self-directed manual contraction in F, E, LSF, RSF, left rotation, and right rotation, each direction for 15s at a perceived maximal intensity. The MST (N=12) and HST (N=12) intervention group attached a dynamometer to a head harness and perform isometric cervical contractions prescribed load intensities. RESULTS: Pre and post measures of neck strength for F, E, LSF and RSF was measured using a fixed-frame dynamometer (ForceFrame, VALD, Newstead, Australia). HST had the greatest total increase of 99.6N (+13.18%), compared to 59.1N (+7.60%) in the MST and a -2.1N (-0.32%) decrease in the WRIP training group. HST had increased strength in all four directions. (F = 18.8N (+9.47%), E = 22.4N (+10.43%), LSF = 35.9N (+22.04%), RSF = 22.5 (+12.53%). Similarly, MST showed increase strength of 0.60% in F, 3.43% in E, 17.82% in LSF and 11.26% RSF. However, WRIP showed a 0.60% decrease in flexion and a 4.72% decrease in extension following the 8-week program. However, WRIP did increase in LSF and RSF of 1.26% and 4.44% respectively. CONCLUSION: HST and MST increased neck strength compared to a self-directed resource-efficient neck-strengthening program (WRIP). Subsequently, the HST and MST programmes may be appropriate across a range of trained female RU players to reduce neck injuries such as SRCs. Practitioners working with female RU players should therefore consider using dynamometers to train the neck musculature in individualised intensities. *Please note, data collection was completed on the 10th February 2025. Therefore, full statistical analysis will be completed prior to July 2025. Ref: McGroarty, N., et al. (2020), doi: 10.1177/2325967120932306 Daly, E., et al. (2021), doi: 10.3390/jfmk6010008
Read CV Kavanagh RoryECSS Paris 2023: OP-AP16
INTRODUCTION: In addition to a high aerobic capacity, rowing is also characterized by high demands on strength abilities. While previous studies reported associations between rowing performance and various maximal strength indices of the main muscle groups (leg muscle, back muscle) involved in the rowing stroke, little is known about the association with peak power (PP). Therefore, this study aimed to investigate associations of PP with 2000m rowing ergometer performance (TT) in well-trained rowing athletes of different age groups. METHODS: 63 male (age: 18.52±3.34 years, body height: 190±6.84 cm, body mass: 86.33±8.04 kg) and 50 female (age: 19.30±3.50, body height: 176.94±5.41 cm, body mass: 73.64±7.75 kg) nationally and internationally competing athletes of the U17 (20 male, 10 female), U19 (21 male, 14 female), U23 (9 male, 20 female) and Elite (13 male, 6 female) category participated in this study. PP was assessed through the individual load velocity profiling (LVP) by an incremental 1 repetition maximum test (1RM) using a linear velocity transducer (Gymaware). LVP covered the main muscle groups deemed important for rowing performance through the following exercises: Squat (S), Deadlift (DL) and Bench pull (BP). Additionally, TT was assessed on a Concept 2 rowing ergometer within 2 weeks of the LVP. Generalized linear models were calculated separately for both sexes to assess associations between TT and the 1RM as well as PP of the 3 exercises. To adjust for potential biological heterogeneity within the sexes, the body mass index (BMI) was used as a covariate. RESULTS: Significant associations were found for TT and S 1RM (β: -0.38; β: -0.96), DL 1RM (β: -0.35; β: -0.72) and BP 1RM (β: -0.88; β: -1.77) in male and female athletes, respectively (all p ≤ 0.001). These significant associations were not affected when adding the BMI as a covariate. Similarly, significant associations were found for PP S (β: -0.05; β: -0.12), PP DL (β: -0.05; β: -0.16) and PP BP (β: -0.11; β: -0.21) in male and female athletes, respectively (all p ≤ 0.001). However, after adding the BMI to the model only the PP of DL and BP but not S remained significantly associated with TT. CONCLUSION: We showed that the 1RM of all 3 exercises and PP of DL and BP were significantly associated with TT in both male and female athletes, even when adjusting for the BMI. Our data indicate that in addition to the rather slow 1RM, also PP and, therefore, the ability to generate high movement velocities (MV) might affect TT. Especially the association with BP PP may highlight the importance of PP in specific parts of the rowing stroke, such as the explosive finish phase where the back muscles generate most of the power. Thus, further studies should focus on the associations of PP and MV with different phases of the rowing stroke. In addition, since these cross-sectional findings might be influenced by the athlete’s strength training experience the effect of PP and MV on TT should be further investigated in interventional studies.
Read CV Mats Willem JacobsECSS Paris 2023: OP-AP16