Hello all, here is some interesting information that I found on the IBF website http://www.intbadfed.org/review.htm#BIOMECHANICS it deals with a whole range of technical information about muscles and stuff in badminton. For those of you who were following the much controversy of Asian vs. other badminton players and the rascist stuff that was happening here...theres also info in the biomechanics talking about the elasticity of muslces of asians... i quote: "Because of the large forces generated in these muscles it is also difficult to stop the movement in the direction of the lunge and recover quickly after playing the shot. Wirhed, Johansson & Lindberg (1983) proposed that the major difference in movement between the "faster" Asian players and the "slower" European players was in the Asian's superior eccentric strength in the lunge. Studies by Wilson (Wilson, Murphy & Pryor, 1994; Walshe & Wilson, 1997) lend further evidence to the role of eccentric strength in jumping type movements. High levels of muscular stiffness are associated with inhibition of depth jump performance especially at heights greater than 60 cm (which rely heavily on eccentric contraction). Rate of concentric force development was faster however in individuals with stiffer musculature. Asian players are renowned for the elasticity of their muscles (which would aid the eccentric braking phase of the lunge); the extra "stiffness" of European players would only contribute to an increase in the concentric phase of the lunge. This ability to stop quickly may outweigh any added benefits of being able to start faster." I'm not an expert but that info was quite interesting. I dunno how valid it is because it is quite old info but very interesting.
They don't state it has anything to do with race. They simply say there is a difference, which there may well be. My guess this comes from different types training, and possibly other cultural factors (sitting behaviour for instance).
Agree. This is a more plausible explanation. Wouldn;t starting training at an earlier age with stretching be a factor as well. One would have to do a serial study of a control group and then comparable groups.
if one want to know more about muscular composition, go read last year scientific american. I forgot which month but it had a great section on this topic.
it describe in details why some athletes excel in certain activities n not others. It talks about different kind of muscle cells, type of energy stored, how to handle waste byproducts buildup, type of biochemical process happening for each muscle types. It has some nice illustrations too.
