Somatotype characteristics of male sprinters, basketball, soccer, and field hockey players.

Abstract

In an effort to describe the physique associated with regular involvement in sports activity, the somatotypes of a group of 51 elite male athletes comprising sprinters (n = 10), basketball (n = 12), soccer (n = 15), and field hockey (n = 14) players, and 11 male nonathletes were studied. The subjects' physiques were assessed using the Health-Carter anthropometric somatotype method. Analysis of variance and Newman-Keuls post hoc method were used to test for significant differences among the mean somatotype ratings of the groups. The findings indicated that the nonathletes (3.5) were significantly more endomorphic (P less than 0.05) than the soccer players (2.5) and sprinters (2.4). The sprinters (3.6) and basketball players (3.7) had markedly higher ectomorphic ratings (P less than 0.05) as compared with the hockey players (2.0). The mesomorphic component did not differentiate the groups. The differences observed among the groups which could be attributed to genetic and environmental influences reflect the variability in the morphological characteristics of athletes and nonathletes.