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Eccentric Strength
for Squash ... |
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Everybody should know that off-court
training adds to your ability to play the game better as well as
avoid injury, but when you decide to enter in the weight room to
condition your body for the rigours of the game, you will need to
know that there are different ways in which muscles contract,
and how each impacts on the way you perform on the court.
By knowing this you will be able to adapt the way you perform
certain exercises to emphasise one form of contraction over another.
The three forms of muscle contraction that we'll be looking at are:
1) eccentric 2) isometric and 3) concentric.
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Paul Gold
www.tennis-training-central.com
MSc Sport Sciences
BSc (Hons) Sport Science
National Academy of Sports Medecine (NASM) - Performance
Enhancement Specialist
Speed Agility Quickness (SAQ) – Certified trainer.
Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) Licensed coach (CCA level 2)
Currently training players from various court based sports.
Squash clients include Laurens J Anjema (Dutch No1 – World No
27), Ritwik Bhattacharya (Indian No1 – World no 51) and
Vanessa Atkinson – World No1). As well as several World ranked
tennis players.
My mission is to redefine the somewhat antiquated
profile of the squash player to a more dynamic, powerful,
modern athletic one.
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| Before beginning any
exercise program, consult with your physician. |
Also from Paul:
Dynamic Warm-up
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TYPES OF MUSCULAR CONTRACTION
1. ISOMETRIC: no change in length of the muscle
(example: pushing against a wall)
2. CONCENTRIC: shortening of the muscle
(example: up phase of a bicep curl)
3. ECCENTRIC: lengthening of the muscle
(example: down phase of a bicep curl)
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"Eccentric" contractions are very important as they are responsible
for slowing movements down and then reversing your direction.
Without eccentric strength it would be impossible to run or even
walk as we would be unable to counter the force of gravity and be
driven to the ground.
When we walk, we place approximately 3x the weight of our body on
each leg as it makes contact with the ground and when we run this
force can be up to 5x our body weight, so you can imagine how high
this can rise if we have to sprint towards and lunge to pick up a
ball in the corner.
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To improve eccentric strength
you need to perform exercises being aware of the speed movement
during the lowering phase.
 For
example, when performing a squat exercise, you need to lower
yourself slowly, using a count of 5 to reach the deepest position.
This is called the "descent" phase of the lift. When you reach the
bottom of your squat you will have to enlist an isometric
contraction to completely stop, then follow this with a concentric
contraction to accelerate out of the down position back to the
starting position again (the "ascent" phase) on count of one.
Perform 2 sets of 10 of these squats twice per week and see the
difference in as little as three weeks. Your ability to get into the
preparation position for hitting as well as your ability to reach
for and explosively recover from shots will improve as your
eccentric strength increases.
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So, the moral of the story?
Work on slowing down,
to help you speed up ...
Paul Gold
MSc
www.tennis-training-central.com
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