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. 2023 Oct;40(4):1033-1038.
doi: 10.5114/biolsport.2023.123322. Epub 2023 Mar 6.

Do maturation, anthropometrics and leg muscle qualities influence repeated change of direction performance in adolescent boys and girls?

Matteo Giuriato  1   2 , Vittoria Carnevale Pellino  3   4 , Nicola Lovecchio  5 , Roberto Codella  6   7 , Matteo Vandoni  3 , Scott Talpey  8   9
Affiliations

Do maturation, anthropometrics and leg muscle qualities influence repeated change of direction performance in adolescent boys and girls?

Matteo Giuriato et al. Biol Sport. 2023 Oct.

Abstract

The ability to change direction rapidly is a key fitness quality especially in invasive sports where young players perform approximately 300 changes of direction in a game. There is currently limited understanding of how anthropometric characteristics and maturation status influence change of direction ability in adolescent. Therefore, the purpose of this investigation is to assess the influence of anthropometrics and maturation status on change of direction ability in young people. The study involved 706 adolescents (367 girls) aged 14-19-year-old attending the same high school in Northern Italy. Stature, body mass, seated height and leg length were measured to determine the anthropometrics and maturation status of the participants. Repeated change of direction ability (10 × 5 m shuttle run test), lower limb power and muscle strength were evaluated using field tests from the Eurofit test battery. Maturity offset was calculated separately for boys and girls, in accord with the equation proposed by Mirwald. Preliminary analysis with 10 × 5 m as a dependent variable and sex and PHV as a fixed factor, suggests a significant difference between sex (p < 0.001; d = 0.35) but not with PHV (p = 0.986; d = 0.000) and interaction PHV × sex (p = 0.836; d = 0.000). Our results suggested that repeated change of direction performance was influenced by anthropometrics, maturation and muscle qualities in adolescent boys and girls.

Keywords: Adolescent; Change of Direction; Eurofit Test; Peak Height Velocity; Speed.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declared no conflicts of interest.

Figures

FIG. 1
FIG. 1
The trend for both sexes between the peak height velocity in 10x5m performance.
FIG. 2
FIG. 2
Estimated marginal means of 10x5m performance between sexes and the peak height velocity.
FIG. 3
FIG. 3
Estimated marginal means of 10x5m performance between the peak height velocity only for girls.
FIG. 4
FIG. 4
Estimated marginal means of 10x5m performance between the peak height velocity only for boys.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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