assistance shoulder exercises relevant for racquet swings

[David_G]

Jesus Christ, most of the rugby players I know don't do the main lifts for shit. Which may explain why we're 1-4 so far this season.

Just my experience with golf tells me you're right. The WKU golfers were doing silly CrossFit bullshit (135lbs deadlifts for sets of 15, followed by crunches, followed by side crunches, followed by every other possible type of "core" work because golfers are idiots) because their trainer is a goddamn idiot and everyone ELSE in the Athletic Department was too much of a goddamn idiot to realize what a goddamn idiot the trainer was and replace him with a competent individual. They continued to hit the ball like fairly strong young women. I got my squat up to 400 lbs, drank a lot of milk, and now I can outdrive half of the PGA Tour.

Of course, those gentlemen can actually find their drives, but that's more related to skill, not physical ability.

I do watch football: best players are all strong as fuck and weigh 200+ lbs of LEAN athletic mass proving that stronger= better:
Clay Matthews- 255
Adrian Peterson- 218
Drew Brees- 210
Aaron Rodgers- 227
Tom Brady- 226

If you actually go to see heavier lineman who are above that 10-13 BF(they aren't sack of fat and are EXTREMELY athletic btw) you'll find most are around the 300 lb mark and the "fat" ones(who can still out-sprint most soccer players who weight 170) can easily be 50 lbs heavier

I imagines Rugby players powercleaning and squatting at least twice a week, had the impression these individuals are beasts/strong as fuck at least like in the NFL, then again I don't watch Rugby that often.

[oscar231]

So, Rafael Nadal just lost the finals to one of the best Tennis players in the world, and here's what Nadal had to say. And I quote. "I couldn't see a way to stop him and he was too strong for me." There you have it. Is it any wonder why the strongest athletes tend to dominate in their respective sports?

When athletes talk about a strong athlete they usually mean a good player. So, great chess players are described as "strong" players. Surely that doesn't mean strength is as important in chess. I agree about Nadal being one of the strongest players, strictly speaking, but I think this time he was simply describing how well Djokovic was playing.

[DirtyRed]

I do watch football: best players are all strong as fuck and weigh 200+ lbs of LEAN athletic mass proving that stronger= better:
Clay Matthews- 255
Adrian Peterson- 218
Drew Brees- 210
Aaron Rodgers- 227
Tom Brady- 226

If you actually go to see heavier lineman who are above that 10-13 BF(they aren't sack of fat and are EXTREMELY athletic btw) you'll find most are around the 300 lb mark and the "fat" ones(who can still out-sprint most soccer players who weight 170) can easily be 50 lbs heavier

I imagines Rugby players powercleaning and squatting at least twice a week, had the impression these individuals are beasts/strong as fuck at least like in the NFL, then again I don't watch Rugby that often.

PRO rugby players do that, I'm sure. My ass backwards college club does not. But we could probably out drink the pros. And in the end, isn't that what really matters?

I don't think rugby players get QUITE and big and huge as NFL players, as rugby is a little more towards soccer in the sense of stamina and constant running/jogging. Casey Hampton is not going to be a great rugby player, he's just TOO fat and slow, even though he's very strong. Your Dwight Freeneys, Brett Keisels, Julius Peppers, Aaron Smiths, and such other Fat Guys who can actually haul ass would make tremendous props after a bit of conditioning. Freeney might even be fast enough to play as a loose forward.

[hbriem]

FWIW, one of the lads I train powerlifting with is a golfer with a handicap of I think 3.

He weighs about 140kg (~300 lbs), squats and deadlifts 250ish (~550#), benches 150ish (~330#). He powerlifts very casually with long summer golf break etc.

Anyway, a 3 handicap isn't world class as such (but he also golfs very casually) and he hold the national record for the longest drive (258m I think, 282 yards) and wins all the driving competitions there are.

[John Janecek]

The most important assistance exercises for racquet swings are: squats, presses, deadlifts, bench presses, and power cleans.

I have this argument/debate with our asst boys soccer coach 1-2 times a year...always the same thing and always entertaining....

[tbennett]

PRO rugby players do that, I'm sure. My ass backwards college club does not. But we could probably out drink the pros. And in the end, isn't that what really matters?

I don't think rugby players get QUITE and big and huge as NFL players, as rugby is a little more towards soccer in the sense of stamina and constant running/jogging. Casey Hampton is not going to be a great rugby player, he's just TOO fat and slow, even though he's very strong. Your Dwight Freeneys, Brett Keisels, Julius Peppers, Aaron Smiths, and such other Fat Guys who can actually haul ass would make tremendous props after a bit of conditioning. Freeney might even be fast enough to play as a loose forward.

Read a story in my local paper a few years back (New Orleans, the Times-Picayune) that noted that Brees maxed at 275 on bench and 475 on squat, for what it's worth. No mention if it was LBBS though ;-) however it did mention that when visiting a local high school, he watched the kids lifting and he immediately corrected a bunch of them on their form (not going to parallel) - the writer noted that Brees, dressed in a suit and tie and dress shoes, immediately got under a loaded bar to demonstrate to the kids what he was talking about.

[Jared Nessland]

byob,

I am a SS coach, collegiate strength coach, and play a racquet sport (racquetball) at a pretty decent level (elite/low open). I obviously agree with Rip that the basic barbell exercises are all thats really needed. If you want to improve your swing "power", spend your extra time and energy working on your mechanics. General strength + improved technique = more "swing power." If you feel like you absolutely need to add something to the workout, add some medball throws to the warmup. This shouldn't really mess anything up, will serve as a warmup, and will make you feel better because you are doing "core" and something "sport specific."

[David_G]

I have this argument/debate with our asst boys soccer coach 1-2 times a year...always the same thing and always entertaining....

Soccer is one of the only sports when top athletes can be 2 dimensional at 155 lbs

[alagon]

I agree about Nadal being one of the strongest players, strictly speaking,

Indeed. The best tennis players in the world are also the strongest:

[DirtyRed]

FWIW, one of the lads I train powerlifting with is a golfer with a handicap of I think 3.

He weighs about 140kg (~300 lbs), squats and deadlifts 250ish (~550#), benches 150ish (~330#). He powerlifts very casually with long summer golf break etc.

Anyway, a 3 handicap isn't world class as such (but he also golfs very casually) and he hold the national record for the longest drive (258m I think, [i]282 yards) and wins all the driving competitions there are.

Wat?

Are you sure you didn't mishear? Or are the fellows in Iceland still using wood clubs? 280 yards is considered on bunt on the PGA Tour, it's NCAA DI "decent." The top competitive long drivers hit it over 400 whenever they hit it straight. I don't doubt your friend's ability to destroy a golf ball, I just doubt that you've communicated it well.

Read a story in my local paper a few years back (New Orleans, the Times-Picayune) that noted that Brees maxed at 275 on bench and 475 on squat, for what it's worth. No mention if it was LBBS though ;-) however it did mention that when visiting a local high school, he watched the kids lifting and he immediately corrected a bunch of them on their form (not going to parallel) - the writer noted that Brees, dressed in a suit and tie and dress shoes, immediately got under a loaded bar to demonstrate to the kids what he was talking about.

He would be the first football player I've ever seen go to parallel. It's mostly crap like this. They're clearly goddamn strong, but they seem more determined to put a lot of weight on the bar than they are to do the lifts with full ROM.

Or in that last video's instance, they're more concerned about putting a lot of weight on the bar than they are about not looking like an epileptic trying to do an upright row.