Importance of Triceps

Discussion in 'Techniques / Training' started by Tekkai, Dec 3, 2009.

  1. Tekkai

    Tekkai Regular Member

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    Hello! does anyone knows how important the tricep is for badminton? I just realised recently that if my tricep is aching then my swing speed becomes slower and my control is gone..that applies especially for my backhand clear. Anyone agrees with me?:)
     
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  2. Gollum

    Gollum Regular Member

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    I would expect the triceps to have a role in most shots, especially backhands, as it's used to extend the lower arm.

    However, I wouldn't say it was one of the most important muscles for badminton.
     
  3. druss

    druss Regular Member

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    You're muscles should be balanced in strength but the average person does not use their tricep very much. Very easy muscle to train with free weights though.

    If you've ever weight trained before, you'll quickly find out that if you have week triceps you won't be bench pressing very much.
     
  4. Tekkai

    Tekkai Regular Member

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    haha whats the most important muscle then?:rolleyes:
     
  5. Gollum

    Gollum Regular Member

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    If I were Mike Woodward, I would say:

    "The brain.

    ...long pause...

    Because I consider the brain to be a muscle."​

    (Sorry Mike, couldn't resist it. For those with no idea what I'm talking about, see the BE technique DVD.)


    Er...anyway, I would say that the internal and external rotators in the upper and lower arms are the most important muscles for generating racket head speed.
     
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  6. Tekkai

    Tekkai Regular Member

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    haha what if i change the question to is the triceps important for the backhand clear?
     
  7. Fidget

    Fidget Regular Member

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    The tricep comes into play in any shot that extends your elbow. Since that is all shots (at least the prep if not the stroke) the tricep must be "important".

    The real question is "does the tricep have to be exceptionally strong?"
    My guess is that it has to be toned and quick, rather than mighty and bulky.

    -cheers
     
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  8. Tekkai

    Tekkai Regular Member

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    im training my triceps now to be strong now haha! especially endurance training.. After a few backhand clears..my triceps gets tired and then swing speed slows down and control is all gone haha!
     
  9. Fidget

    Fidget Regular Member

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    This is quite interesting. Please report back on how it goes.:)

    It would be nice to hear what other players and the trainers/ physiotherapists/ kinesiologists of BC have to say.
     
  10. Trmun

    Trmun Regular Member

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    My qualified guess would be that the most important of the muscles on your upper arm is actually the biceps.

    This is because the muscle that partakes the most in the rotation of the lower arm over your elbow is actually the biceps. Try screwing a screw into a piece of wood if you don't believe me; you'll notice that you'll automatically bend you arm to get force into the rotation, the muscle providing this force is the biceps, which you can notice if you try to screw with a fully extended arm.

    This is also why the triceps is of little importance to a badmintonplayer - of course, we do use it, but nowhere near the same amount as we use our biceps.
     
  11. Tekkai

    Tekkai Regular Member

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    what about the deltoids then?
     
  12. Trmun

    Trmun Regular Member

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    The deltoidea muscle is mainly a abducter muscle when the arm is above 45 degrees - the deltoids would therefor take part in holding the racket up.

    The deltoidea muscle has also got some rotator function, but compared to the rotator cuff, it's function on the shoulder is quite minimal.
     
  13. Addict123

    Addict123 Regular Member

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    I assume we are talking about endurance here, not peak strength. When playing against a wall (lowish and as quick and forceful as possible), my whole arm aches after a while. So I'd say it is not a single muscle that is important.

    I'd say badminton specific training would be the best - that means, playing badminton.

    Use some drill where footwork is not included and the ball passes as quick as possible (drives...) and keep that up as long as possible. If you do that regularly, it should be just fine.
     
  14. dineshr

    dineshr New Member

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    old thread but running into tricep longhead muscle issue. it is a crucial muscle that needs to be stretched and strengthened. goes all the way from the ulnar (upper arm) to the armpit behind the shoulder. A very crucial muscle for a lot of strokes.
     
  15. ralphz

    ralphz Regular Member

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    Tricep is indeed in the upper arm but

    Ulna is a bone in the lower arm

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ulna_-_anterior_view.png

    And as for ulnar, (probably a less common word), according to this, wikidiff.com/ulna/ulnar The word ulnar is slightly different from ulna) means pertaining to the elbow

    It'd be interesting to hear from people how training the triceps has helped or not.

    I did once train my triceps to do 20kg each arm. Maybe my natural strength level is around 12kg each arm. I'm not sure that I gained anything monstrously good from it..

    Badminton strength is very mysterious to me. The time when my clears were most powerful and effortless I don't recall doing anything explosive. Though the technique I was learning that time when doing smashes wasn't a 'power smash' technique.. the same fundamental technique applied to clears. At the time I wasn't working my triceps or upper body but I was doing heavy squats though I'm not sure that really played much into it. I have lost some technique in that aspect of my game.. and all of us adjust our technique from time to time, so it is hard to test things in a 'all other things being equal' scenario.

    If your technique is really beautiful then the swing might look quite slow till the end and then I question how much the strength of a muscle comes into it.. and in what way. It certainly helps in terms of how much force the muscles can withstand . and perhaps that is a necessity if hitting hard. I dont know to extent even people qualified in biomechanics and physics and sports science really understand the process. If I were to hazard a good guess I think maybe with good technique , the lower parts of the body work explosively but not so much the arms. I've seen cases where maybe the leg worked explosively, that was good technique. And cases where maybe the leg didn't work explosively but the hips set up the shoulders to work explosively(that might still be good technique I am not sure). I'm not aware of what would be considered 'good technique' where the tricep works explosively.. but still perhaps one may benefit from building its strength to help withstand force. That said, if training the tricep is important to help it withstand strength then I'd have expected that when not training the tricep, it would be sore.. but mine were fine when generating strength from my leg and using good technique. So I am really not at all sure where if anywhere training the tricep helps, if one has good technique.
     
  16. Ballschubser

    Ballschubser Regular Member

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    I train my triceps (e.g. dips, different angles at cable) and I don't think that it has any real benefit for playing badminton. The triceps are there to push your body away with your arms, not a common movement in badminton. Even if you consider, that you stretch the arm during a backhand clear, you don't need to use a lot of strength to stretch it or to do it explosiveness. The power of a backhand clear comes from wrist/arm/should rotation.
     
  17. ralphz

    ralphz Regular Member

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    Triceps are used for extending the arm. (doesn't have to be pushing the body away), could be pushing something away from the body, and also for , I don't know the term,but I suppose for 'unextending' the arm. 'cos you have the concentric and eccentric portion of the exercise.

    It may be that unorthodox overhead movements, or what some may call bad technique, might make more use of triceps.

    It may be that the whole arm rotation thing can be used for good steepness.. and when using arm rotation, the arm doesn't come down prior to contact, but perhaps if one foregoes/skips that arm rotation technique, it may be possible to hammer the shuttle down while extending the arm.. Or do what one really isn't meant to do on a smash - panhandle it, There's still a question mark over how much the triceps are used even there though eg is it perhaps anterior deltoid more than triceps..
     
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  18. Ballschubser

    Ballschubser Regular Member

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    You have to consider playing a forehand or backhand stroke.

    Forehand (eg smash): To pull back your arm and extend it you will use your back muscles, delts, tri. To generate power you will use your breast muscles (bring your arm forward) and mostly forearm muscles to rotate the wrist, little bit tri to extend your arm further. The tri has only the task to extend your arm which will not generate a lot of force at all.

    Backhand (e.g. backhand clear): Here the tri is more involved, but only to extend your arm, not to generate power. Power is generated by pulling you arm back (back muscles, delts) and by rotation your wrist again.

    When you use a muscle, the counter muscles are used too to stabilize, here it is the biceps. I've never felt any fatigue in my tri or biceps, but in my delts (when smashing a lot), forarm and back muscles.
     
  19. ralphz

    ralphz Regular Member

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    I agree that triceps probably don't play much of a role(assuming reasonably proper technique).. If their technique isn't proper, e.g. they panhandled it (no arm rotation), then there'd be anterior deltoid(as the arm comes down), and triceps(as the arm extends towards where the shuttle is going) - that's if e.g. they panhandle it, rather than proper technique .

    It's an interesting idea to look at where the fatigue is. (usually a good idea!),. And this is where badminton is quite mysterious to me 'cos the muscle fatigue isn't easy to detect for me - in badminton.. You have to not be tense in order to hit hard (So the kinetic chain works), and even in the movement itself, it's like 1 rep with very little resistance(a shuttle is very light). Even in a drill of smashes it's one rep, then some seconds before the next rep. Fatigue for me, from smashes, would be cardio if I did a bunch of smashes. So it's hard for me at least to even fatigue a muscle from badminton, other than legs! (my legs may fatigue a bit during or after but that's from having to move around the court).
     
  20. asadafgs

    asadafgs Regular Member

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    I don't know if it's important to have a strong triceps but you should still strengthen it. Also, it's another exercise that you're doing so you burn more calories.
     

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