Anthropometric characteristics of young Italian tennis players

• Ausilia Elce ^[2] ; Giuseppe Cardillo ; Mauro Ventriglia ^[2] ; Caterina Giordano ^[2] ; Francesca Amirante ^[2] ; Giuliana Mazza ^[2] ; Armando Sangiorgio ^{[2] [1]} ; Lucia Martiniello ^[2]
  1. [1] University of Molise

     University of Molise

     Campobasso, Italia

     
  2. [2] Università Telematica Pegaso
• Localización: Journal of Human Sport and Exercise: JHSE, ISSN-e 1988-5202, Vol. 12, Nº. 3, 2017, págs. 651-658
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • Aim of our study is to observe specific body differences induced by training in young agonist tennis players at pre-pubertal and pubertal age, using anthropometry. Method. We analyzed 101 tennis players (27 females and 74 males) coming from South Italy, aged 8-14, which played tennis from at least 1 year. Anthropometric measurements like wrist, mid-thigh, mid-arm circumferences and arms length were compared between dominant and not dominant side of the body. Results. The mean Z-score for females was 0.9627, corresponding to the 83.22th centile of Italian growth chart, the mean Z-score for males was 1.0157, corresponding to 84.51th centile of Italian growth chart. For weight the mean Z-score for females was 0.2394 (59.46th centile) and the mean Z-score for males was 0.4032 (65.66th centile). The mean Z-score for females Body Mass Index was -0.1451 (44.23th centile), instead the mean Z-score for males was -0.0768 (46.94th centile). The Wilcoxon test reported a statistically significant difference between dominant and not dominant wrist circumferences regardless of sex (p-value=1.87e-10). Conclusions. Our study revealed that playing tennis starting from childhood may be useful for a regular growth. Analysis of wrist circumference and height may confirm the osteogenic potential of the sport.