Examples: throwing a baseball, jumping for a basketball rebound, lifting a weight in a power-lifting competition.
Important Features Explosive force is the principal capacity that is used. It is determined by the following characteristics: (a) the total number of muscle fibers that can be recruited (predominantly slow-twitch fibers with as many fast-twitch fibers as can be enlisted for the effort level); (b) the magnitude of the force beyond the 50 percent effort level (this will be mainly influenced by the number of fast-twitch fibers that are used); and (c) the activity of the enzyme ATPase and the resultant rate of energy transfer from phosphate stores to the bonding of the muscle proteins actin and myosin.
The mechanical resistive forces that exist in the body are: (a) muscle viscosity (which is greatly affected by core temperature and to a lesser extent the degree of hydration in the body); (b) the degree of relaxation in the antagonist muscles; and (c) the inertia of the body parts that are to be employed in the action (this has direct bearing on when body segments are initiated in any movement, for example, the quicker a segment needs to be employed the greater is the energy cost to mobilize that segment).
The
performance capacities which surround biomechanics and skill learning are timing, skill, and agility. These combine to form a coordinated smooth movement that produces an efficient explosive force.
Training for single maximum contraction events is determined more by learning and practice characteristics than physical changes which occur within the muscle or body. Such training is best achieved through maximally specific practice trials with adequate between-trials recovery. The provision of performance feedback that can be used to improve the quality of the skill efficiency is equally important.
The volume of correct performances at competition intensity, that is, specific skill learning, is the major training determinant for performance improvement in this class of activity. A relatively well-trained non-specific endurance capacity could assist the development of stress tolerance, application to training, and recovery rates.
Since most improvement in these events comes from skill-learning sources, one should expect to continually improve throughout a sporting career provided the skill training is correct and stimulates continual efficiency development. As long as the physiological capacities associated with the sport are sanely developed and maintained, an extensive career in high-level performance is possible.