Relations between Motor Abilities and Morphological Characteristics as Predispositions of Students for Sports

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to look at the relationship between morphological characteristics and motor abilities as a predisposition of students to play sports. On a sample of 58 students aged 9 (±0.5), a set of two variables was applied to define the morphological space (body height and body mass), and a set of three variables to assess the motor space of explosive power and motor speed (standing long jump, shuttle running 10 x 5 m, and hand tapping). The explanation of individual differences (variability) on the criterion variable based on a linear combination of a set of predictor variables was performed using a multiple linear regression. It has been established that better results on the long jump motor test are achieved by those students who achieved better results on the 10 x 5 m shuttle running test and who have a lower body mass. In addition, it can be concluded that better results in the motor test of shuttle running 10 x 5 m are achieved by those students who have a lower body mass and better results on the standing long jump and hand tapping tests. When it comes to the results in the hand tapping motor test, it can be stated that students who have a lower body height and a better/ faster result in the shuttle running 10 x 5 m will achieve better results. Accordingly, in physical and health education classes, special attention should be paid to the development of explosive strength and motor speed as particularly important motor abilities in the identification and selection of children and young people for sports.

Keywords

• morphological characteristics
• motor abilities
• younger school age
• predispositions for sports