SPIROMETRIC AND MORPHOLOGICAL INDICATORS OF TOP LEVEL HANDBALL PLAYERS

The aim of this study was to determine the differences and relations of the morphological and spirometry characteristics between elite and the first league quality handball players. The study was conducted on the sample of 35 handball players playing in two clubs of 1st Croatian handball league divided in two groups: national team players (n=15) and the first league quality players (n=20). A total of 18 variables were analysed, 12 out of which to evaluate morphological characteristics and 6 to assess spirometry and ventilation parametres. Generally, by applying variance and discriminant analysis, no statistically significant differences between elite and high-quality players were established in the analysed areas. Individually, statistically significant differences are present only in the shoulder girth and hand length, and spirometry indicators show no statistically significant differences. Relation analysis between morphological and spirometry indicators detected positive statistically significant connections between most of the variables in the spirometry domain and in most of the longitudinal dimensionality skeleton variables as well as shoulder girth.Original Abstract: Cilj istrazivanja je bio utvrditi razlike, ali i odnose morfoloskih i respiracijskih obiljezja vrhunskih reprezentativnih i kvalitetnih prvoligaskih rukometasa. Istrazivanje je provedeno na uzorku od 35 rukometasa dvaju rukometnih klubova I hrvatske rukometne lige, podijeljenih u dva subuzorka kao vrhunski reprezentativni (n=15) i kvalitetni prvoligaski igraci (n=20). Analizirano je ukupno 18 varijabli od kojih 12 za procjenu morfoloskih karakteristika i 6 za procjenu respiracijskih i ventilacijskih parametara. Primjenom analize varijance i diskriminacijske analize nisu utvrdene statisticki znacajne razlike izmedu vrhunskih i kvalitetnih rukometasa u analiziranim prostorima u cjelini. Pojedinacno, statisticki znacajne razlike prisutne su samo u varijablama sirina ramena i duzine sake, a kod respiracijskih indikatora nije zabiljezena niti jedna statisticki znacajna razlika. Analiza relacija izmedu morfoloskih i respiracijskih indikatora detektirala je pozitivne statisticki znacajne veze izmedu vecine varijabli respiracijskog prostora s vecinom varijabli longitudinalne dimenzionalnosti skeleta te sirinom ramena.