Height is considered a nuclear component for achieving success in sports such as basketball and volleyball. Therefore, it has been considered as one of the major factors to be included in any talent detection program applied to these sports. However, concerns have arisen as to how important height really is, and to what extent performers are able to play in elite-level national teams without being tall. We analyzed the height of women volleyball players who have participated in the FIVB World Grand Prix, editions 2004 to 2011. This competition gathers the best twelve national teams in women volleyball around the world (16 in 2011) and possesses high prestige. Data were collected directly from the FIVB online platform (www.fivb.org), including values from a total of 1708 participants across those years. Average height was 182.61±7.57cm, ranging from 181.92±8.04cm in 2011 to 183.53±7.40 in 2007, and has been diminishing consistently since 2007 until 2011. Relatively to the total number of participants, 7.96% of the players were under 170cm, while 17.27% were under 175cm. Per year, an average of 4 players under 165cm was registered. On the other end of the spectrum, an average of 6 players above 196cm were registered each year. When average team height was crossed with team ranking (1st to 4th ranked; 5th to 8th; 9th to 12th; the 13th to 16th ranked teams were excluded, since only the 2011 edition presented that many teams), significant differences emerged (F=7.064, p=0.001). Bonferroni pairwise comparisons revealed that the teams ranked in the top four spots presented superior height (184.16cm) compared to the teams ranked in the lower end of classification (181.22cm), with a mean difference of 3cm. In conclusion, even though height is an important factor for high-level volleyball, and still makes a difference between top-level teams and near toplevel teams, there is wide space for shorter players to incorporate national teams participating in World-class competitions such as the FIVB World Grand Prix. Certain game functions, such as the libero and the setter, are less dependent on height than being a middleattacker, for example. This might explain why almost 18% of the players registered in such competitions fall short of 175cm, but players under this height were also found for wing-spikers. Yet, many national teams for the youth and junior players stipulate a minimum value of 175cm as a cut value, under which the player is excluded of the process. If nothing else, these data should advise coaches that height is being overrated as a factor of selection in women`s volleyball. Furthermore, average height in this World-class competition has been decreasing, suggesting that other factors are being privileged in making the team`s rosters.
© Copyright 2012 17th Annual Congress of the European College of Sport Science (ECSS), Bruges, 4. -7. July 2012. Published by Vrije Universiteit Brussel. All rights reserved.