# Anthropometric Characteristics and Somatotype of Young Slovenian Tennis Players
## 4 Discussion  
This is a retrospective, observational cohort study that we have conducted over the last two decades. Our study aims to describe the anthropometric characteristics, body composition, and somatotype of young tennis players over the last two decades. When comparing the anthropometric characteristics of young tennis players, we found only a few studies, most of which only considered the 16-year-old age group and had a significantly lower number of subjects or a lower number of observed anthropometric measurements. [PERSON] et al. [23] analysed a sample of elite male and female tennis players (category 16 and younger) who participated in the Davis Junior Cup and Fed Junior Cup over a period of two years. A total of 17 anthropometric variables were recorded for each subject. A comparison of the average height and weight values shows that our male tennis players are smaller and lighter and the girls are taller and lighter than the Spanish tennis players. Young tennis players have similar skinfold values. In both studies, the variables included the same four circumference measurements, with the average values being lower for the relaxed upper arm of our players, higher for the tight circumference, and similar for the other measurements. Our tennis players had lower averages for humeral and femoral breadth. The aim of [PERSON] et al. 's study [26] was to analyse the anthropometric and physical performance variables as a function of chronological age and biological maturity in athletes. Eighty-seven tennis players were analysed (58 boys: 15.1 \(\pm\) 0.8 years; 29 girls: 15.3 \(\pm\) 0.8 years), and six anthropometric measures were measured. The age of the tennis  
Figure 3: Ternary plot of somatotype components (endomorphy, mesomorphy, and ectomorphy) for each age category and sex. Each point represents an individual player: blue circles for boys; red triangles for girls. Larger outlined points indicate group means for each category. players in our study was similar to that of the young Chilean athletes, although we found that our male tennis players were similar in height, while the girls were on average taller and heavier. [PERSON] at al. [27] analysed 12 anthropometric characteristics of 101 young (74 boys and 27 girls) advanced tennis players aged 8 to 14 years (mean age of boys: 10.83 \(\pm\) 1.8, mean age of girls: 11.48 \(\pm\) 2.02 years) and compared the difference between the values of the dominant and non-dominant sides of the body. Considering the age of the athletes included in their study, we compared the values with those of our 12-year-old tennis players. We found that the average values for height, weight, girth, and BMI were slightly higher in our athletes. As [PERSON] et al. [28] found in a systematic review, somatotype is an important factor that influences athletic performance and affects strength, endurance, and sport-specific abilities depending on the sporting demands. The distribution of somatotypes differs between male and female athletes. The predominant somatotype in elite male athletes was the endomesomorphic type (32.8%), followed by the balanced mesomorphic type (25.2%) and the ectomesomorphic type (18.3%). Among top female athletes, the central somatotype was predominant (31.5%), followed by the endomesomorphic type (22.2%) and the mesoendomorphic type (20.4%). The most common somatotype in elite male tennis players is the mesoeconomic somatotype, which reflects a lean and muscular physique that is advantageous for the physical demands of tennis and contributes to agility, strength, and performance on the court. In a study, [PERSON] et al. [23] analysed not only anthropometric characteristics and body composition but also somatotype and compared more and less successful athletes. The predominant somatotype was ectomesomorphic in the boys and endomesomorphic in the girls. No significant differences were found between more and less successful top tennis players. The results of our study consistently show that male and female junior players have different somatotypes.