Morphological parameters and handgrip muscle force contractile characteristics in the first selection level in water polo: Differences between U15 water polo players and the control group

Abstract

Aim: The research aimed to highlight the importance of morphological parameters and handgrip muscle force contractility in the selection of fifteen-year-old water polo players of various performance levels. Materials and Methods: The present research was conducted with a sample of 103 examinees, 37 out of whom belonged to the control group (CG), 33 were U15 water polo national league players (WNL), and 33 were water polo players from Serbian U15 national team (WNT). Besides the basic morphological parameters, the contractile properties of the left and right handgrip muscle force (HG_L and HG_R) were measured exploring two separate dimensions of contractility: maximal muscle force - Fmax, and maximal explosive force - RFDmax. Results: The research results showed the existence of a general statistically significant difference between the three groups of participants, both in morphological space (Wilks' Lambda Value: 0.333, F relation: 11.61, p = 0.000) and in muscle force and explosivity (Wilks' Lambda Value: 0.590, F relation: 3.31, p = 0.000). In addition, the results indicated that the WNT players had higher values of Fmax and RFDmax than the CG participants (32.8% for Fmax_HG_R and 63.7% for RFDmax_HG_R) and the WNL players (28.8% for Fmax_HG_L and 43.0% for RFDmax_HG_R). This suggests that the higher values of handgrip maximal explosive force and maximal muscle force may be attributed to adaptive training effects on their upper extremities. Conclusion: The results of the present study suggest that the contractile characteristics of the handgrip muscle force (Fmax and RFDmax) as well as morphological parameters (body height and body mass) are significant in the selection of U15 water polo players.