Study of anthropological parameters, body composition, strength & endurance in Basketball players

Introduction & Background: Basketball is one of the most popular ball games throughout the world. It is the game in which more things occur per second like any other game. More than 70million people play basketball and over 210 countries are members of FIBA. The performance of Indian athletes, players, sportsmen at various national and international competitions has been poor and this is of great concern especially to the coaches, physical educationists, sports scientists, doctors and researchers. Efforts have been made to improve the standards of our sportsmen since long, however a very little success has been achieved in this respect. The performance of any player will depend upon his physical fitness. Aims & objectives: The present study was undertaken to assess, analyze and compare height, weight, arm span, body segments, muscular strength and endurance in basketball players and age matched controls. Also compare these results with national and international standards available. Material & methods: Parameters like height, weight, arm span, upper segment, lower segment, body-composition, strength using bench squat (1 RM method), leg and back dynamometry & endurance using push-up & sit-ups scores were assessed. In the view of paucity of scientific assessment of Indian basketball players regarding their fitness and game specific skills, this study was under taken. We observed that as compared to the age matched controls the basketball players had significantly more height, height of upper segments of body. Strength of shoulder as well as leg muscles endurance was significantly more in basketball players than controls. We also found that there was a significant decrease in weight, fat percent, and fat mass of basketball players than controls. There was no significant change in height of lower body segment, static strength of leg and back muscles. Summary & conclusion: Basketball players in our study group still lag far behind in different study variables like weight, lean body mass, strength (static as well as dynamic), flexibility and agility when compared with national and Olympic basketball players. Hence there is a need to improve the physical fitness parameters so as enhance the player’s performance. Suggestions: Exercise and games should be mandatory at all levels of education. Talent identification programs should be implemented at various levels such as schools, colleges, universities and state.