Physical Performance Tests in Male and Female Sitting Volleyball Players: Pilot Study of Brazilian National Team

Abstract

Background: Sitting volleyball is a Paralympic team sport in which players use their upper limbs and hands to move and slide across the playing court. Objectives: The objective of this study was to determine the differences in physical performance tests between the men and women of Brazilian sitting volleyball national team players. Methods: Fifteen sitting volleyball national team players, (seven men, age = 33.7 ± 6.2 years; body mass = 88.4 ± 21.4 kg; body height = 1.74 ± 0.36 m) and (eight women, age = 29.6 ± 8.3 years; body mass = 75.9 ± 17.1 kg; body height = 1.73 ± 0.08 m) with similar time and volume of training, participated in this study. As a physical performance evaluation, five test trials were conducted for each player which included (1) modified agility t-test (MAT), (2) speed & agility test (SAT), (3) speed & endurance test (SET), (4) seated chest pass (SCP) and (5) handgrip (HG). Data were analyzed for normality, using Shapiro-Wilk's test, and then a student t-test was used to examine the discrepancy of performance tests among the male and female players. Cohen's effect size (d) was calculated for each result. Results: There were statistically significant differences, between the men and women of the Brazilian sitting volleyball players with higher values for men in MAT (27 %, P = 0.001), SAT (22 %, P = 0.008), SET (23 %, P = 0.008) and SCP (19 %, P = 0.03) scores. Conclusions: Results showed that male players had higher scores in the five performance tests, but according to the effect size calculations there was no significant difference between male players and female players in HG performance.

Kekuatan Otot Bahu dan Daya Ledak Otot Lengan: Apakah Memiliki Korelasi dengan Servis Atas Sitting Volleyball?

“…Penelitian serupa dilakukan di Turki, di mana penelitian tersebut berupaya untuk melakukan survey terhadap tingkat kebugaran fisik pada atlet sitting volleyball Nasional (Yüksel & Sevindi, 2018). Sebuah penelitian yang dilakukan Brazil mencoba melakukan survey tingkat profil kinerja fisik antara atlet pria dan wanita sitting volleyball (Ahmadi, Uchida & Gutierrez, 2019). Dan sebagian penelitian telah mencoba menganalisis perbedaan performa atlet sitting volleyball (Molik et al, 2015;Marszałek, Molik & Gomez, 2018).…”

Effects of Sitting Light Volleyball Intervention on Physical Fitness Among Hong Kong Students with Physical Disabilities: A Pilot Quasi-Experimental Study

“…Sitting volleyball is a commonly known Paralympic Sport modified from traditional volleyball to suit athletes who are disabled physically (20,21). Despite sitting volleyball allowing players to be at a seated position in which the pelvis must contact the ground during the game, the volleyball used is seen to be unpredictable (20) and even faster than that of Olympic traditional volleyball (The British Paralympic Association, 2014), in which players with lower fitness level and sport competence are less able to access. Hence, the combination of sitting volleyball and light volleyball may be considered as an appropriate physical activity for people with physical disabilities (PWPD) as a leisure activity.…”

“…The subjects were told to grip the handle of the dynamometer and squeeze it with maximum strength. Participants performed two tries for both hands and rest time was given in between them (20,25). Secondly, the dumbbell press was conducted to examine the strength and endurance of one's arms and shoulders.…”

Physique and performance in male sitting volleyball players: implications for classification and training

“…Moreover, the dynamicity of the play requires them to have high physical fitness levels ( i.e., high upper body strength and power, speed, agility and good balance in the sitting position) ( Ko & Kim, 2005 ; Lee & Kim, 2010 ; Marszalek et al, 2015 ; Molik et al, 2017 ; Jeoung, 2017 ; Yüksel & Sevindi, 2018 ). Given their accessibility, ease of use and ability to mimic the competition-relevant SV skill tasks, field tests are commonly used by sport scientists ( Molik et al, 2013 ; Marszalek et al, 2015 ; Jeoung, 2017 ; Ahmadi, Uchida & Gutierrez, 2019 ; Ahmadi, Gutierrez & Uchida, 2020b ; Ahmadi et al, 2020 ) to evaluate physical fitness levels and the sport-specific sprint performance.…”