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Movements and Muscles involved in Spiking a Volleyball

Volleyball is one of the many sports that are played using a simple technique; the capability to deliver a ball to a net against all efforts of the opposing team. A volleyball spike refers o the strong attacking action carried out by a person to score against the opposing team. Both muscular and skeletal systems are critical to the performance of body movements. A volleyball spike occurs in four key phases, namely the approach, arm cocking, arm acceleration, and follow-up. There are various movements that take place in the shoulder complex when spiking a volleyball. Both the glenohumeral and shoulder joints become elated, horizontally abducted, and externally rotated in preparation for the spike. The joints also go through scapular posterior tilt, trunk extension and right rotation, upward and external rotation and side flexion. The shoulder is classified as a diarthrosis, and its structure type is ball and socket. The main shoulder movements that take place are abduction, rotation, and extension at three degrees of freedom.

Some of the muscles involved in a volleyball spike include hamstrings, quadriceps femoris, gastrocnemius, and biceps brachii. Hamstrings have their origin in ischial tuberosity and insertion is the medial tibial condyle. Because the hamstrings are often activated during spiking, they are deemed eccentric. The quadriceps femoris originates from the femur and ilium. The femus is the thighbone while the ilium is the upper pelvis. The two come together at the kneecap and insert at the tibia. Quadriceps femoris functions concentrically. The gastrocnemius originates in the lateral head, which is the posterolateral aspect of the femure media head condyle. The gastrocnemius is both concentric and eccentric. The biceps brachii originated at the scapula and its insertion of the radial tuberosity of its radius. As regards its functioning, the biceps brachii is concentric.