Anthropometric evaluation of ratio between extremity length and body length in basketball player adolescents

Abstract

Purpose: To determine whether the limb length-to-body ratio in young basketball players (15-18 years) is different in comparison to those who do not play basketball, and to contribute to the hypothesis that those with which body type can be more successful in basketball. Material: The measurements were performed on 42 individuals (29 boys, 13 girls) who have played basketball for at least three years and 41 individuals (31 boys, 10 girls) who did not play basketball. A standard form was prepared for these measurements and the measurements were made according to this form. The data were summarized using mean and standard deviation values, and their accordance with normal distribution was evaluated with the Shapiro-Wilk test. The t-test was used for evaluating the independent samples. Values of p<0.05 were considered significant. The measurements were performed using a tape measure. Results: As a result of the measurements, the height/fa (forearm) ratio was 7.09 in non-basketball players and 6.71 in basketball players. The height/hl (hand length) ratio was 10.0 in non-basketball players and 9.06 in basketball players. The height/lll (lower limb length) ratio was 1.86 in non-basketball players and 1.73 in basketball players. The height/tl (thigh length) ratio was 3.28 in non-basketball players and 3.41 in basketball players. According to our findings, the ratio of forearm, hand, thigh and leg to body were increased in basketball players. There was no significant difference in terms of gender. Conclusions: Athletes possess anthropological and physiological characteristics specific to the sport in which they participate. In terms of limb length, there was an anthropometric difference between the young population who played basketball and the normal population.