Características antropométricas, composición corporal y somatotipo de jugadores de tenis de mesa de alto nivel

Abstract

The aim of this study was to analyze the anthropometric profile, body composition and somatotype of international toplevel table tennis players belonging to the 150 best world players. A total of 31 players (18 males and 13 females) belonging to the absolute category were evaluated. All of them played regularly in the "Superdivision", the highest Spanish table tennis championship category as well as in other official international championships (ETTU e ITTF). Participants were divided into two groups according to their sex and a total of 16 anthropometric variables were assessed. Statistically significant differences were recorded in: body mass, height and BMI values (p<0.01); seven skinfolds (p<0.05), two girths (p<0.01) and in all breadths (p<0.01). Significant differences were also found between the somatotype mesomorph and endo-mesomorph profiles (p<0.02). A balanced mesomorph somatotype was found for males (2.5-4.6-2.6) while females recorded a mesomorph-endomorph somatotype (4.0-3.4-2.9). These results highlight a different biotype if compared with reference data with less endomorphy between males and an improvement of endomorphy and less mesomorphy between females. This study provides new biotypology data that represent a suitable reference for elite table tennis players.