The level of somatic abilities and motor skills compared to sports level among 12-14-year-old female tennis players

Abstract

Introduction. Tennis has been becoming increasingly popular year by year. However, it is a very difficult sport discipline in terms of technique, it requires a high level of fitness and coordination motor skills. In the first training stages, great importance needs to be given to movement coordination, which conditions the speed and efficiency of learning the technique. Aim. The main aim of the dissertation is assessment of individual profiles of somatic feature development, coordination skills and energy-based motor skills among female tennis players with various rankings in the Polish Tennis Federation and were no more than 14 years old. Material and methods. Research was conducted in February 2013 during the Polish indoor tennis championships of the youth division up to the age of 14. Twenty-six female players ranked first to twenty-sixth in the Polish Tennis Federation were the subject of the research. The research included anthropometric measurements, motor tests and computer tests of coordination skills. The collected datawas analyzed via basic statistical characteristics and normalized indicators. Results. The sports level of young female tennis players is considerably determined by the size of somatic features and the level of coordination skills. Morphological- functional profiles of individual cases unambiguously indicate that the elements determining sports level of the tennis players balance one another and are dynamic in nature. However, the problem of achieving balance of the variables in the “model of a champion” at this training stage requires further and more detailed research.