engleski

The influence of somatotype on young table tennis players’ competitive success.

The main objectives of this research were to determine the somatotype of the best young male Croatian table tennis players using the Carter and Heath (1990) method and to establish whether the subjects classified in three groups of physique, according to similarities in their somatotype component values, differ in terms of their age, years of training, and especially competitive success. The results reveal the predominance of the mesomorphic somatotype component, which is evident and emphasised in almost half the subjects. The ectomorphic somatotype component is also significant since it was established as a dominant component of more than one-third of the subjects while, as expected, the least dominant component is the endomorphic component. The results of an analysis of variance reveal that the subjects in each group dominated by a different somatotype component are the same age and possess the same playing experience, and that the groups do not differ in their competitive success. It is thus possible to conclude that the somatotype of players at this age is not a crucial factor in achieving competitive success in table tennis. The predominance of a physique dominated by the mesomorphic and ectomorphic somatotype components only reveals the potential advantage of these body constitution types, one that increases the probability of success but is not a factor that directly influences the competitive success of young table tennis players.

anthropometry; racket sports; table tennis; athletes; success

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