Westside Barbell Plyo Swing
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Aaron you raise some interesting points and thanks for your feedback.However i feel that you have zoned in on hip development etc but as i said this is just one facet of our training we build our hips up via sumo deadlifts, box squat and sled dragging. The plyoswing is actually based of a soviet union design which they still use today. The key element to this exercise is the use of overspeed eccentrics as mentioned. As you know a box jump is just one expression of explosive strength which is the steepest increase in strength in the shortest amount of time and we use it as a test. You are more than welcome to ask the same questions to the Patriots, Cowboys and Browns who all have plyoswings as it would be very interesting to get their take on the use of this machine in training. Finally have you ever physically used our Plyoswing and trained on it.
So if we're talking about proprioceptively teaching the body to move efficiently and explosively , it does the opposite by not synching the lower body power and explosiveness with the hips, hip flexors, extensors, core. Why wouldnt explosive movment mimic sport, instead of building muscle memory to function seperately. If everything is connected. A 63" box jump is great in 1 plane of motion for 1 rep but the body functions in movement in the transverse plane 35% of the time.
The machine was never intended for hips, it was built to develop the legs. We use box squatting to develop our hips. The plyoswing is one small facet of what we do and as mentioned before it is an accessory exercise. This machine is used in addition to box squats, sumo deadlifts, sled pulling, inverse curl, reverse hyper and belt-squatting. By doing this we have produced a gym record box jump of 63" sadly undocumented but we are confident this record will be broke soon and on film. If we are looking to isolate or develop the hips we just use our Hip/quad machine.
I understand the physiological effect that the exercise applies to the musculature and how the body has to overcome the stimulus, completely agree. However, rarely is the hip in constant flexion. When sprinting the explosive power needed comes when the hip is in neutral position to full triple extension pushing back like a donkey kick. If you have tight/shortened hip flexors bc of sitting down to build lower body strength then you affect sprint mechanics. I understand force application and RFD all essential components.
Thanks for you feedback
To answer your question in short, yes it contributes a great deal to sports that require explosive lower body movement. Please let me explain why. The main function of the Plyoswing is to build tremendous explosive power for take-offs and to build a solid landing base. If you add standard weight it will change the mass that has to be overcome and by adding stretch bands it will change the velocity of the movement which leads to over speed eccentrics. This means Faster down=Faster up. This occurs due to kinetic energy stored in the ligaments and tendons. A practical example to explain this action would be to take a basketball and simply let it drop, it will not bounce very high. However if you apply force to the ball via your hand the ball will hit the ground and bounce up noticeably higher, this principle holds through to the body due to the elastic nature of ligaments and tendons.
Great exercise! How much transfers to sport since the hip is in constant flexion during the exercise but wouldnt be in sport?