Elsevier

Neurologic Clinics

Volume 26, Issue 1, February 2008, Pages 181-194
Neurologic Clinics

Neuromuscular Fatigue in Racquet Sports

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ncl.2007.11.011Get rights and content

This article describes the physiologic and neural mechanisms that cause neuromuscular fatigue in racquet sports: table tennis, tennis, squash, and badminton. In these intermittent and dual activities, performance may be limited as a match progresses because of a reduced central activation, linked to changes in neurotransmitter concentration or in response to afferent sensory feedback. Alternatively, modulation of spinal loop properties may occur because of changes in metabolic or mechanical properties within the muscle. Finally, increased fatigue manifested by mistimed strokes, lower speed, and altered on-court movements may be caused by ionic disturbances and impairments in excitation-contraction coupling properties. These alterations in neuromuscular function contribute to decrease in racquet sports performance observed under fatigue.

Section snippets

Technical characteristics and physiologic demands of racquet sports

Badminton, squash, and table tennis are among the most popular racquet sports, even if tennis is probably the most widely practiced. Before discussing the potential mechanisms that limit performance, the technical characteristics of these sports and the physiologic strain imposed on the players have to be described. In racquet sports, the activity pattern is intermittent; that is, characterized by repetitions of fast starts and stops and alternating brief periods of exercise at maximal or near

Manifestation of fatigue

A close inspection of the literature reveals that the effects of fatigue on performance in squash, badminton, or table tennis players have received little documentation [2]. During the last decades, several studies have provided scientific evidence to support the observations made by coaches that fatigue impairs performance, as shown by mistimed shots (ie, power and precision) and altered on-court movements (ie, speed, positioning to the ball). In tennis, physiologic perturbations during

Defining and quantifying neuromuscular fatigue

Fatigue is a complex phenomenon and has been a major research topic for exercise scientists for the last half century. Neuromuscular fatigue refers to a transient reduction in the maximal force capacity of the muscle, and is measured objectively by an acute reduction of performance during exercise [12]. The inability to produce and maintain the required force can be attributed to several potential mechanisms occurring within cortical regions to muscular contractile elements, with each of these

Muscle activity

At the peripheral level, surface EMG recordings during evoked contractions have been used to indirectly explore neuromuscular fatigue [12]. In human experiments, the M-wave is commonly used as an index of neuromuscular transmission and action potential propagation in muscle fibers [23]. During intense short-term activities, reductions in ionic (Na+ and K+) trans-membrane gradients may occur, resulting in a decreased M-wave amplitude [24]. Briefly, the increased intracellular Na+ and reduced

Evidence of central activation failure

There is a growing body of literature to support a predominant association between fatigue in racquet sports and reduced neural drive to muscle [27], [30], [43]. The role of central fatigue in neuromuscular perturbations can be studied using the twitch interpolation technique, the ratio of the EMG signal during MVC normalized to the M-wave amplitude or the comparison of torques achieved with maximal voluntary and electrically-induced contractions [12], [26]. Using a combination of these

Summary

Fatigue impairs racquet sports performance, and can be manifested as mistimed shots, altered on-court movements, and incorrect cognitive (ie, tactical) choices. The etiology of muscle fatigue in racquet sports is a complex phenomenon that may involve impairment in both neural and contractile processes (see Fig. 1). Temporary fatigue observed after a series of consecutive intense rallies may be caused predominantly by a reduction in sarcolemmal excitability because of ionic disturbances and

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