Analysis of Throwing a Football
Aashlee J. Paris
Danielle Mummert
Ken Watson
Penn State University
Computer-Based Movement Analysis Project
April 18, 2006
Danielle Mummert
Aashlee Paris
Ken Watson
Making a Football Pass
Our paper will be discussing the muscles of the shoulder, elbow, and the wrist that are being used in order the make a football pass; therefore, showing which muscles are concentric and eccentric through the prime movers (agonistic), and the muscles working against the prime mover (antagonistic).
The starting position is standing at a slight angle with you left foot placed slightly forward in front of your right foot, shoulder with apart. Standing in this position your base of support is at your feet with the center of gravity at the center of your pelvis. Throwing a football is broken up into three phases: winding up, the acceleration and deceleration.
Moving or placing your arm in the position of shoulder horizontal abduction, lateral rotation, elbow flexion, and wrist radial deviation is placed in phase one of winding up. The prime movers of the shoulder joint consist of horizontal abductors and external rotators: posterior deltoid muscle, infraspinatus, and teres minor muscle. The elbow flexors consists of the brachialis, biceps brachii, brachioradialis and the pronator teres muscle (assist in elbow flexion). The wrist abductors consist of the flexor carpi radialis muscle and extersor carpi radialis muscle. All the muscles involved with winding up in phase one are concentric.
Next, moving from winding up position in phase one to shoulder medial rotation, horizontal adduction, elbow extension, and wrist adduction is the position of phase two (acceleration). The prime movers of the shoulder joint consist of internal rotators and horizontal adductors: anterior deltoid, pectoralis major, latissimus dorsi, teres major, and the subscapularis muscles. The elbow extensors consist of triceps muscles and anconeus muscle (which only assist in extension). The wrist adductors consists of flexor carpi ulnaris and extensor carpi ulnaris muscles. All the muscles involved with acceleration in phase two are concentric.
The final phase is after accelerating and releasing the football with your arm lowering back down to your side, placed into phase three of deceleration. The shoulder is in extension the elbow is in extension and the wrist is in adduction. The prime movers of the shoulder joint consist of the anterior deltoid, and the pectoralis major (clavicular portion to 90 degrees), coracobrachialis (assist), and biceps brachii (long head, assists). The elbow flexors consist of triceps brachii and anconeus muscles. The wrist abductors consist of the flexor carpi ulnaris and extensor carpi ulnaris muscles. All the muscles involved with deceleration in phase three are eccentric.
When people look at a football pass, they look at the small things and the motion as a whole. Here we went into detail, taking the whole process of throwing a football piece by piece. Throwing a football is an easy task but when it is looked at in depth it can become complicated to understand. Hopefully we have made it easier to understand with the information provided.
Works Cited
Hislop, H. J., Montgomery, J. (2002). Manual Muscle Testing Techniques and Manual Examination. Seventh Edition. Philadelphia: Saunders
Lippert, L. S. (2000). Clinical Kinesiology for the Physical Therapist Assistant. Third Edition. Philadelphia: F. A. Davis Company.
Lippert, L. S., Minor, M. A. D. (1998). Clinical Kinesiology Flashcards. Philadelphia: F. A. Davis Company.