Anthropometric, body composition and performance variables of young elite female basketball players

The purpose of the study was to determine the physique and body composition of young female basketball players and to examine these variables in relation to their playing position. Eighteen members of the under seventeen England Basketball squad were measured on twenty different anthropometric sites from which somatotype and body composition were calculated. Four performance measures, vertical jump, anaerobic power, right and left grip strength and laterality were also measured. The variables of the basketball players grouped according to playing position were then compared statistically using ANOVA. Centres had the largest measures of physique and body composition followed by the forwards and then the guards. These differences were significant, particularly between the centres and the guards. The centres were much taller, had longer limb lengths, hip widths and were more muscular.