This dissertation attempts to ascertain the effect of physical characteristics on performance in young alpine skiers in the age bracket 12 to 14 years of age. The sample pool includes 146 young skiers, male and female, who attended annual measurements at the faculty of sports in Ljubljana.
Eight tests and 13 individual body parameters were chosen for both males and females year 2004 - 2007. The physical performance tests were selected from a standard test battery that has been used by the Slovenian skiing association in recent years.
The least square method was used to determine the degree to which the body parameters of the participants explains the variance in physical test results. Pearson correlation coefficient was used to determine correlation between body parameters and individual test performance for each gender group.
The results indicate that the selected 13 body parameters can account for a relatively high degree of test variance. For most motor skill related tests, 46 - 72% of variance for the tested variable can be explained. A notable difference emerges when separating the participants by gender. The general trend indicates that a higher degree of variance can be explained by the body parameters in boys than in girls. With boys, we were able to predict 46% to 78% of the variance of the total sample of independent variables with the mentioned body composition variables. A lower share of the mention variance was detected only in the variable SKI9 (r2 = 37.0), where only 37% could be explained. With girls however, the share of the trend of variance of the predicted variable was on average lower than in boys. With the listed body composition variables, we could predict from 28% to 41% of the variance of the entire sample of independent variables. A lower share of the variance was detected only in the variable STABTRUP (r2=10.0), where only 10% were explained. The results show that a greater proportion of variance can be explained in boys than in girls, which means that measurements of body composition in boys are better indicators of their motor skills.
Pearson correlation coefficient results demonstrate a correlation between body parameters and test results. The correlation is stronger in boys than in girls. Boys demonstrate a higher degree of correlation in body parameters connected with muscle mass. In girls a higher degree of correlation is observed body parameters dealing with body fat mass and visceral fat area.
It is evident that body composition plays an important role in the performance or quality of performance of tests of motor skills. It is important to build body composition in a direction that increases motor efficiency, because it does matter what "material" the competitors are made of. Trainers should pay particular attention to observing the amount and parameters associated with muscle mass, and for girls to all parameters related to fat content.
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