RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ANTHROPOMETRIC DIMENSIONS AND MOTOR ABILITIES IN SOCCER PLAYERS

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between anthropometric profile and motor abilities in soccer.Study comprised 152 first division soccer players.The anthropometric status was determined by measuringeleven anthropometric variables whereas the motor abilities' were assessed by tests that evaluateflexibility, agility, sprinting and jumping performance. Separate factor analysis was conducted on motor and anthropometric data. Results of this study suggest that longitudinal along with transversal dimensionalityof the body are the most important aspectsof players anthropometric selection. Motor data showsthat jumping performance has largest single impact on soccer.Findings of this study indicate that body dimensionality of soccer players has a positive impacton specific soccer flexibility (r= .25, p=.002),and that the body fat has a negative impact (r= -.18, p=.026) on jumping performance which is significantly correlated with overall power performance.This paper supports concept ofspecific morphological optimization that may lead to betterperformance.