The subjects of the study were 198 male volleyballers, aged 13-15 years, whose teams participated in Estonian championships between the eight best teams in 2005, 2006 and 2008. Methods: Thirteen body measurements were taken: height, weight, suprasternal height, xiphoidal height; chest, waist, hip, wrist, upper thigh and lower leg circumferences, arm circumference flexed and tensed and wrist breadth. As a classification representing the body as a whole, we applied a classification that was based on the mean height and weight of boys of different ages and the respective standard deviations. At first, a bivariate 3×3=9 SD classification of height and weight was created; later the number of classes was reduced to five SD classes. During all the matches, the boys` individual performance was recorded by the computer program Game (Stamm et al., 2000). The assessment of players´ proficiency proceeded as follows: during the match, the expert registered each case when a technical element (serve, reception, block, feint, attack or dig) was performed by a player. Results: The principle for forming the classes was to differentiate between the boys according to concordance or disconcordance between height and weight. The following classes were created: (1) small - small weight and small height; (2) medium - medium weight and medium height; (3) big - big weight and big height; (4) pycnomorphs - big weight, small height; (5) leptomorphs - small weight, big height. Boys were placed into classes according to their individual heights and weights. All the other body measurements showed essential systematic differences between the classes. This classification has been acknowledged in C. Raschka`s monograph Sportanthropologie (2006) as an innovative Estonian system in sports and constitutional typology (Raschka 2006). The boys´ proficiency in the game was assessed in the same body build classes. For each class the mean index of proficiency was calculated for serve, reception, attack and block performances. Discussion: There are significant differences in proficiency between body-build classes. Big and leptosomic boys were found to be the most successful. The least successful were the boys of the small class. The boys in class 3 (big) were the most successful in block and attack. Leptosomic boys were the most successful in serve.
© Copyright 2009 14th annual Congress of the European College of Sport Science, Oslo/Norway, June 24-27, 2009, Book of Abstracts. Published by The Norwegian School of Sport Sciences. All rights reserved.