Morphological profile of the best pan-american team handball players by game position

Resumen

The purpose of this study was to characterize the morphological variables, by game position (GP), of male athletes who participated on the X Pan-American Games in Team Handball (XPGTH) and also to analyze the very same variables of the best athletes in relation to other athletes who played in the same GP. 103 athletes were measured, and the national team coaches who participated in the XPGTH selected the best seven players in the Pan-American Games, for each game position. The morphological variables characterized were: body mass; stature (ST); arm span (AS); lower extremity length (LEL); hand and wrist breadth; forearm perimeter and body composition. The results obtained demonstrated that many athletes had morphological characteristics beyond the ideal for this sport. The Z scores indicate that the best athletes from different GP (goalkeeper, backcourt, wings and circle runner) exhibited larger morphological characteristics in relation to the means for the other players in their respective GP. The best goalkeeper and the circle runner were the only ones whose scores were higher in relation to each GP, respectively, when the entire group of morphological variables were considered together. The variables that demonstrated greater morphological development for the best athletes in the 4 GP, compared to the other athletes, were: ST, AS, LEL, % fat and lean body mass.