Fitness Testing Assignment: Volleyball
Fitness Testing Assignment: Volleyball - by Laurel Wentworth
Contents
Introduction
Volleyball has been played around the world for over one hundred years. It is estimated to involve 800 million participants world wide making it the most popular participant sport in the world (Briner and Kaemar 1997). It is played at the highest level in Olympic competition on two different surfaces. Teams of six players compete indoors on hard surfaces, whilst teams of two competitors compete outdoors on sand.
According to Aagard and colleagues (1997), the incidence of shoulder injuries was second to ankle injuries. Ankle injuries were primarily acute and traumatic incidents from jumping and landing whilst the shoulder injuries were of a more chronic and overuse nature. Athletes training at high volumes are more likely to overload tissues predisposing them to overuse injuries. Furthermore, Aagard et al (1997) found that the shoulder injuries were more prevalent in beach volleyball. They postulated that this was related to the fewer players on the beach volleyball court and the subsequent decreased specialisation from the beach volleyball players. This results in each player partaking in a greater frequency of spiking and serving, which are the two activities most often associated with shoulder injuries.
The play in Volleyball is initiated with a serve. This is usually an overhand serve and may be performed as a float or a topspin serve. Additionally the serve may be performed from a standing or jump start. The topspin serve is utilised for speed and spin and may reach velocities of up to 110km/h. The float serve is designed to have minimal spin and float with the erratic air currents before dropping sharply into the opposite court. The float serve is associated with suprascapular neuropathy and resultant isolated infraspinatus muscle weakness (Briner and Benjamin 1999, Ferretti et al 1998, Holzgraefe et al 1994). To perform the float serve, the athlete must strike the ball sharply and retract the arm immediately after contacting the ball (Ferretti et al 1998). This is to minimise the spin on the ball. The sharp deceleration of the arm is achieved through strong eccentric action of the external rotators of the shoulder, particularly the infraspinatus. The maximal eccentric contraction of the infraspinatus muscle required to slow the arm movement and stabilise the shoulder increases the distance between the origin and termination of the suprascapular nerve. The nerve may be stretched across the lateral edge of the spine of the scapula at the spinoglenoid notch (Ferretti et al 1998). This may result in a tensile neuropathy of the terminal branch of the suprascapular nerve and isolated infraspinatus muscle atrophy, loss of external rotation strength and occasional pain (Briner and Kaemar 1997, Ferretti et al 1998, Holzgraefe et al 1994).
The video compares the upper limb trajectories of an experienced and inexperienced athlete performing a standing float serve. The athletes were compared from lateral and posterior aspects during the serve motion. Analysis of the upper limb trajectories revealed differences in the velocity of movement, and the component movement from several joints which formed the serve.
At the start of forward swing of the arm the shoulder is horizontally extended, abducted and externally rotated. The elbow is in a flexed position and the trunk is ipsilaterally rotated. Prior to arm movement, the trunk rotates bringing the anterior aspect of the shoulder forward. This results in further external rotation at the shoulder. The phenomenon known as the stretch shorten cycle is utilised by the shoulder internal rotators to initiate the forward movement of the upper limb. The stretch shorten cycle is activated by an eccentric or lengthening muscle action which immediately precedes and augments the concentric muscle action that follows (Fleisig et al 1996).
The shoulder accelerates into internal rotation and horizontal flexion in preparation for striking the ball. The wrist and hand remain behind the elbow during initial forward swing. The volleyball serve, as performed by the experienced server, utilises the kinetic chain concept where movements are initiated from the larger base segments and terminate with the smaller distal segments, thus transferring energy distally to the ball. Immediately after striking the ball, the arm is sharply retracted by a strong eccentric action of the infraspinatus muscle.
Conversely, the inexperienced athlete performs the serve in a manner resembling a push rather than a throw. There is minimal trunk rotation, which limits the capacity for energy transference via the stretch shorten cycle. The lesser degree of shoulder external rotation results in the hand remaining in front of the elbow and shoulder throughout the serving action. The stretch shorten cycle utilised by the experienced server enhances the ability of the shoulder internal rotators to act. The arm is accelerated to a high velocity for the serve. Therefore, a large force is required to slow and retract the arm at the termination of the serve. The inexperienced server does not use the augmentation of the shoulder internal rotator muscle action thus does not generate significant velocity of the upper limb in the float serve. The infraspinatus muscle is not required to act eccentrically.
The forceful eccentric muscle action of the infraspinatus decelerates the arm at the termination of the float serve. This results in traction of the suprascapular nerve and compression at the spinoglenoid notch. As the terminal branch of the suprascapular nerve is purely a motor nerve, the athlete may present with isolated weakness of external rotation, which may be painfree (Holzgraefe et al 1994). Experienced servers are at higher risk of developing suprascapular neuropathy than inexperienced servers. It has been suggested that the inclusion of eccentric training of the shoulder external rotators may prevent the development of the neuropathy (Ferretti et al 1998)
Conclusion
There is no standardized fitness testing protocol available yet for in-line speed skating. The author attempts to formulate one comprising aerobic, anaerobic and flexibility tests specific to the sports, so as to evaluate the fitness of elite athletes and design appropriate training plans. Sport specificity of the tests maximizes validity and reliable testing procedures enable comparisons of the athletes in different places.
References
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- Briner WW and Benjamin HJ (1999)
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- Briner WW and Kaemar L (1997)
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- Ferretti A, Cerullo G and Russo G (1987)
- Suprascapular neuropathy in volleyball players. Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery. 69:260-263.
- Ferretti A, De Carli A and Fontana M (1998)
- Injury of the suprascapular nerve at the spinoglenoid notch. American Journal of Sports Medicine. 26:759-763.
- Fleisig GS, Escamilla RF and Andrews JR (1996)
- Biomechanics of Throwing. In Zachazewski JE, Magee DJ and Quillen WS (Eds) Athletic Injuries and Rehabilitation. Philadelphia: WB Saunders and Co.
- Holzgraefe M, Kukowski B and Eggert S (1994)
- Prevalence of latent and manifest suprascapular neuropathy in high performance volleyball players. British Journal of Sports Medicine: 28:177-179.
