An appraisal of flexibility and agility in Indian Basketball, Volleyball and Handball players and its comparison among them

Abstract

Swiftness of ball games is one of the biggest reasons for its popularity. All ball games are very versatile and are played very recently in India. Thus, current study is undertaken to identify lacunae in technical skills of Indian Players and compare the skill related fitness. The study was carried out in ninety Male Indian players. Basketball players (n=30), volleyball players (n=30) and handball players (n=30) aged between 16 to 25yrs after obtaining institutional ethics committee clearance. Flexibility was assessed using Modified Sit and Reach test and Goniometry. Agility was assessed using burpee’s squat test, shuttle run and quadrant Jump test using standardized procedure recommended by established literature. Data was analyzed using SPSS v20.0. Our study revealed that, there is a statistically significant difference of mean values among all parameters (p<0.0001) except modified sit and reach test (p=0.06). Further analysis revealed that all groups shows statistically significant difference (p<0.05) except between HBP and BBP (p>0.05) for shoulder flexion, shoulder extension, knee flexion, knee extension and quadrant jump, between HBP and VBP for burpee’s squat test, shuttle run and quadrant jump (p>0.05).Our also revealed that shoulder flexibility was significantly more in Volleyball players while knee flexibility was significantly higher in Basketball players. Handball players had intermediate values of flexibility. Agility was significant higher in Basketball players, intermediate Handball player while least in Volleyball players. However, these players lag far behind when compared with international players and standards.