The serape effect is a rotational trunk movement that increases the power output of the human body. It is trained in sports that involve rotation of the torso, such as boxing and discus throwing. The muscles involved in the serape effect are stretched and then snap-back with increased strength. It is named after a piece of clothing called the

serape The serape or jorongo is a long blanket-like shawl/cloak, often brightly colored and fringed at the ends, worn in Mexico, especially by men. The spelling of the word sarape (or zarape) is the accepted form in Mexico and in other Spanish-spea ...

History

The term

originates from a piece of clothing worn by people of Latin-American countries, specifically Mexico, also known by the same name. A serape is a brightly colored blanket which hangs around the shoulders and crosses diagonally across the

anterior Standard anatomical terms of location are used to unambiguously describe the anatomy of animals, including humans. The terms, typically derived from Latin or Greek roots, describe something in its standard anatomical position. This position prov ...

portion of the trunk. The general direction of how a serape is worn is similar to the direction of the pull of four muscles in the same area. The serape effect is this group of four muscles working together to produce an opposition of the rib cage and pelvis in the wind-up of a motion, and finally, generate a large summation of internal forces from the snap-back. The serape effect is prevalent in ballistic motions like throwing, kicking, and swinging.

Muscles involved

The rhomboids,

serratus anterior The serratus anterior is a muscle that originates on the surface of the 1st to 8th ribs at the side of the chest and inserts along the entire anterior length of the medial border of the scapula. The serratus anterior acts to pull the scapula fo ...

external obliques The abdominal external oblique muscle (also external oblique muscle, or exterior oblique) is the largest and outermost of the three flat abdominal muscles of the lateral anterior abdomen. Structure The external oblique is situated on the lateral ...

, and internal obliques are involved in the serape effect.Page 154 Kinesiology. Gene A. Logan & Wayne C. McKinney (1970)

Sport significance

The serape effect is important in throwing motions and motions that involve the rotation of the torso that have a high

velocity Velocity is the directional speed of an object in motion as an indication of its rate of change in position as observed from a particular frame of reference and as measured by a particular standard of time (e.g. northbound). Velocity is a ...

(Northrip, Logan, McKinney, 1974). This includes ballistic motions such as with throwing a discus or

javelin A javelin is a light spear designed primarily to be thrown, historically as a ranged weapon, but today predominantly for sport. The javelin is almost always thrown by hand, unlike the sling, bow, and crossbow, which launch projectiles with th ...

. The

transverse Transverse may refer to: *Transverse engine, an engine in which the crankshaft is oriented side-to-side relative to the wheels of the vehicle *Transverse flute, a flute that is held horizontally * Transverse force (or ''Euler force''), the tangen ...

rotation of the

pelvic girdle The pelvis (plural pelves or pelvises) is the lower part of the trunk, between the abdomen and the thighs (sometimes also called pelvic region), together with its embedded skeleton (sometimes also called bony pelvis, or pelvic skeleton). The p ...

prior to a ballistic throwing motion is important for creating a higher velocity in the direction of the

motion In physics, motion is the phenomenon in which an object changes its position with respect to time. Motion is mathematically described in terms of displacement, distance, velocity, acceleration, speed and frame of reference to an observer and mea ...

. Without this pelvic girdle rotation prior to the ballistic movement then the pelvis will recoil and there will not be as a great of a velocity to the upper body during the ballistic motion because of a lack of stretching of the muscles and a lack of energy built up to contribute to the movement. The rotational movement of this larger body segment, the trunk, enables a summation of internal forces that is able to be transferred from this large area to a smaller area as such as the arm and the hand for throwing an object.Kinesiology. Gene A. Logan & Wayne C. McKinney (1970) The serape effect can also be applied to kicking by transferring these forces from the trunk and pelvis to the lower legs. For a throwing motion when the throwing limb is diagonally abducted and laterally rotated then the rib cage and pelvis should be at their farthest distance apart, which allows for a maximal amount of stretch in the muscles involved in the serape effect. This maximum point of stretching of the muscles lengthens the muscles so that when the throw takes place the muscles create a maximum amount of force as they shorten back to a resting length. “Muscles must be placed on their longest length in order to exert their greatest force”.

References

Earp, Jacob E, M.A., C.S.C.S., & Kraemer, William J, PhD, C.S.C.S.D., F.N.S.C.A. (2010). Medicine ball training implications for rotational power sports. Strength and Conditioning Journal, 32(4), 20-25
* *{{cite web, url=http://www.bosu.com/index.php?route=news/article&news_id=52, title=Core Stabilization and Neutral Spinal Posture, publisher=bosu.com, accessdate=2014-04-22 Biomechanics Motor control