Athletic Profile of Women College Volleyball Players

Abstract

Descriptive information about female athletes will help physicians, trainers, and coaches design conditioning programs and determine playing positions.

Physiological and Performance Characteristics of Adolescent Club Volleyball Players

“…However, the age, experience, and stage of physical development of many players defy a physical position description. In the relatively few descriptive investigations of volleyball players or those investigations that have included volleyball players, none have differentiated players by position (7,8,10,12,17). The closest contribution toward position differentiation in volleyball players came from Viviani and Baldin (19), who investigated the physiques of junior players (Ͻ18 years old) and senior players (Ͼ18 years old) compared with those of girls of the same age who did not play volleyball.…”

“…Anthropometric measurements are common in some volleyball studies (5,12,19); however, there are few anthropometric commonalities between investigations. Kovaleski and colleagues (12) performed somatotyping on volleyball players. Players were characterized as mesomorphic-endomorphs.…”

“…The average LBM in the current investigation was 46.7 Ϯ 4.9 kg. Kovaleski's (12) investigation of intercollegiate volleyball players averaged 50.1 Ϯ 4.8 kg of LBM. The average LBM in Fleck's investigation of elite volleyball players was 60.3 Ϯ 6.1 kg.…”

“…Player profiles created with these types of data are of considerable interest to volleyball coaches because they greatly enhance the recruitment process (3). Additionally, they provide coaches with detailed information on the training needs of athletes (4,12,13). Once identified, the coaches and athletes can focus training protocols to address physiological and/ or skill-based deficiencies.…”

“…As the number of adolescent girls participating in club sports continues to grow, it is imperative that training requirements and the physical abilities be assessed. Although numerous studies have evaluated and detailed the roles of various physical components (e.g., height, weight, lean body mass [LBM], vertical jumping ability) of volleyball players (7,8,10,12,14,17), the majority of athletes investigated were college or elite-level athletes. Unfortunately, little position-or age-based data exists for adolescent girls who play volleyball.…”