RELATIONSHIP OF SOMATIC TRAITS AND BODY COMPOSITION AMONG VOLLEYBALL PLAYERS AND CONTROLS

Dr Nandpuri Goswami

ABSTRACT

The purpose of the study was to compare the somatic traits and body composition between volleyball players and controls. 48 young male subjects (volleyball players: N= 24 & controls: N= 24) of age group 18-25 years were randomly selected from the different colleges affiliated to Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, Punjab, India. All the participants were assessed for height, weight, breadths, girths and skinfold thickness. The independent samples t-test revealed that volleyball players had significantly higher height (p<0.05), as compared to controls. The volleyball players were also found to have significantly greater lean body mass (p<0.01) and ectomorphic component (p<0.05) as compared to controls. Controls had significantly greater percent body fat and total body fat (p<0.05) as compared to volleyball players. The volleyball players of this study were found to have higher percentage body fat with lower body height and body weight than their international counterparts. Further investigations are needed on above studied variables along with fitness and physiological variables to assess relationship among them and with performance in volleyball. The findings of the present study might be useful in future investigation on player selection, talent identification in the game of volleyball and its training programme development.

Keywords: Somatic traits, Volleyball, Sports, India and Body Fat.