The Relationship between Selected Motor Ability Determinants and Anthropometric Characteristics in Adolescent...

The main purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between speed, lower extremities explosive power, simple, and complex responses in adolescent athletes from various disciplines. Thirty nine athletes of 16.5 years old, N = 13 sprinters and jumpers, N = 13 soccer players, and N = 13 judokas participated in the experiment. Pearson correlations, a one-way ANOVA and an independent t-test for establishing differences between those three groups of athletes was applied. Additionally the Ward method of hierarchical cluster analysis also was applied. The strong correlation occurred between complex responses and speed; 20 m from standing and 20 m flying start (r = 0.62 and r = 0.65 respectively). In other cases, no strong association was found. The substantial differences between groups occurred in the 20 m run from flying start (t = 5.92) and standing triple jump (t = 4.16). The study indicates that adolescent athletes may need to be assessed differently to a certain extent, including sport specialization.