The Influence of the Anthropometric Characteristics and Handgrip Strength on the Technical Skills of Young Basketball Players

IntroductionBasketball is a very popular sport game globally and the last few decades, has developed significantly enough, thus the number of youngsters involved in the sport has significantly increased. Because of the large number of youngsters involved in the sport, selection of the most skilled of them is necessary (Anastasiadis, 2006). The young basketball players undergo certain skills tests, where their physical abilities and technical skills are evaluated thoroughly.The most widespread and reliable battery of skill tests of AAHPERD (1984), includes: i) speed spot shooting, ii) passing for speed and accuracy, iii) obstacle dribble, iv) defensive sliding movement and v) free throws performance. From the above tests, two of them regarding shooting and another one regarding dribbling the basketball, are the tests which evaluate the players' skill of handling the ball. However, for the proper performance of the sport's technique, the anthropometric and physical characteristics of the young players are significant, since parameters like body height, body mass, stretched arms' length, hand surface, handgrip strength and speed running, positively contribute to their performance (Apostolidis et al., 2004; Vinsapuu and Jurimae, 2009). Specifically, hand surface and handgrip strength in young ages, when body height has not been fully developed, might constitute the most decisive factors of ball handling skill.In a sample of 193 basketball and handball players 10-17 years old, the influence of anthropometric characteristics on handgrip strength has been studied (Vinsapuu aand Jurimae, 2007). The athletes were divided in 6 groups of 10, 11, 12, 13, 14-15 and 16-17 years old; body height and body mass were measured and their body mass index was calculated. Additionally, the hand surface and handgrip strength of the dominant hand were measured. The results of the study demonstrated strong correlation between general anthropometric characteristics and fingers length with handgrip strength. At the same time an investigation of the influence of anthropometric characteristics on handgrip strength in a sample of 6-10 years old children accomplished (Semproli et al., 2007). Body height was the strongest predictor of handgrip strength, followed by body mass index, while weak predictability referred fingers' span and hand surface. On the same rationale with the above researchers, the relationship of handgrip strength with basic anthropometric parameters like body composition, total body and hand mineral density and hand bone mineral content in pre-pubertal children aged 8-11 years was investigated (Jurimae et al., 2009). Step wise regression analysis indicated significant predictability of body height 50.6% (R2 X 100) and forearm girths 43.4% (R2 X 100) on handgrip strength. Skinfold thickness and breadths were not related to handgrip strength.A research regarding hand strength on Indian pupils was conducted (Gandhi et al., 2010). Measurements were performed on body height and mass, body mass index, five skinfolds, as well as handgrip strength of both hands, in 330 healthy children (165 males and 165 females) 6-16 years old, all of them pupils from Amritsar. The results indicated considerable correlation between anthropometric parameters and handgrip strength for both hands. Likewise, the prediction of handgrip strength using anthropometric characteristics on a homogeneous population of 100 subjects has been examined (Hewson et al., 2010), aiming to establish a simple prediction model. Independent variables were set: body height, body mass, arm and forearm lengths, wrist and hand circumference. Dependent variable was set the maximal handgrip strength. Among these data, hand circumference referred the strongest correlation with handgrip strength and could clearly predict it (R2 = 0.624). Finally, the influence of hand dimensions and anthropometric characteristics on handgrip strength in male grip athletes and non athletes was investigated (Fallahi and Jadidian, 2011). …