Quantifying Coordination between Agonist and Antagonist Elbow Muscles during Backhand Crosscourt Shots in Adult Female Squash Players.

Abdel-Rahman Akl,Markus Tilp,Amr Hassan,Helal Elgizawy

doi:10.3390/ijerph18189825

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to quantify the coordination between agonist and antagonist elbow muscles during squash backhand crosscourt shots in adult female players. Ten right-handed, international-level, female squash players participated in the study. The electrical muscle activity of two right elbow agonist/antagonist muscles, the biceps brachii and triceps brachii, were recorded using a surface EMG system, and processed using the integrated EMG to calculate a co-activation index (CoI) for the preparation phase, the execution phase, and the follow-through phase. A significant effect of the phases on the CoI was observed. Co-activation was significantly different between the follow-through and the execution phase (45.93 ± 6.00% and 30.14 ± 4.11%, p < 0.001), and also between the preparation and the execution phase (44.74 ± 9.88% and 30.14 ± 4.11%, p < 0.01). No significant difference was found between the preparation and the follow-through phase (p = 0.953). In conclusion, the co-activation of the elbow muscles varies within the squash backhand crosscourt shots. The highest level of co-activation was observed in the preparation phase and the lowest level of co-activation was observed during the execution. The co-activation index could be a useful method for the interpretation of elbow muscle co-activity during a squash backhand crosscourt shot.

Highlights

Given the importance of the coordination between the muscles working on the elbow joint with regards to performance and injury prevention, especially among female athletes, this study aims to investigate the coordination between agonist and antagonist elbow muscles during the backhand crosscourt stroke in adult female squash players
Biceps brachii (BB) were observed the follow-through phase, followed by highest the execution phase, the observed during the follow-through phase, followed by±the execution phase, and the prepapreparation phase, with values of 13.80
The co-activation of the elbow muscles varies within the squash backhand crosscourt stroke

Summary

Introduction

Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. The popularity of squash is increasing and it is one of the racket sports that is played in most countries in the world. The number of squash studies is growing, together with the interest of scientists who have analyzed various aspects of the game [1,2,3,4]. Modern squash is a fast-performing sport including complex and multidirectional movement patterns with a high density and intermittent rhythm. It is multifaceted in its motor skills and its physiological, kinetic, and cognitive requirements

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Conclusion