Morphology of young handball players

Resumen

The purpose of this study was to compare anthropometric and body composition variables from the best male handball athletes competing in the Santa Catarina state youth competition to variables from the other athletes in the same competition, by game position. Seven of the twelve coaches participating in the Santa Catarina Open Youth Games 2004 (up to 18 years) freely consented to select the seven best athletes in the competition (one goalkeeper, one pivot, two wingers and three backcourt players). In addition to these seven players, there were a further 79 team members taking part, bringing the total sample size to 86 athletes. The following variables were analyzed: body weight (MC), height (ES), arm span (ENV), hand breadth (DPA), wrist breadth (DRU), forearm circumference (PA), percentage fat (%G), fat mass (MG) and lean body mass (MCM). Descriptive statistics (means and standard deviations) were employed to classify the athletes according to court position. The chosen athletes were compared with the others using the single-sample t test (p<0.05) and percentage rank. It was found that four of the chosen athletes (pivot, left winger, central and right backcourts) exhibited superior morphology in relation to other athletes playing in the same positions (p<0.05). Body morphology appears to be an important criterion for the performance of the chosen athletes. It is suggested that studies be undertaken to relate morphology with game performance in different age categories.