PHYSIOLOGICAL AREA   

Medicina dello Sport 2024 December;77(4):452-70

DOI: 10.23736/S0025-7826.25.04498-9

Copyright © 2025 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English, Italian

Manual preference and dominance of anthropometric parameters in the shot put among Ivorian students

Siaka COULIBALY ¹ ✉, N’Guessan KOUAME ², Raïssa D. OUATTARA ³

¹ National Institute of Youth and Sports, Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire; ² National Institute of Youth and Sports, Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire; ³ National Institute of Youth and Sports, Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire

BACKGROUND: This study is about the influence of manual preference of anthropometric parameters over training, particularly during the Shot Put. Prior works show that the body laterality and the asymmetries play a paramount role in the human adaptation, controlling the coordination and the ability of the movements in the physical activities. This study aims at analyzing to what extent these factors impact the training and the performance of young Ivorians in physical training.
METHODS: The study’s sample was on 384 pupils: 189 boys and 195 girls. The data were analyzed with the correlation test. Student’s t-test for matched sample for the establishment of the relation between the morphologic characteristics and the manual laterality in the one hand and the training of weight throw, on the other hand. The normality of the data was verified by Shapiro-Wilk and Kolmogorov-Smirnov’s tests, according to the number of sub-groups. Shapiro-Wilk’s Test was used for samples of less than 50 participants and Shapiro-Wilk Kolmogorov-Smirnov’s Test for larger samples.
RESULTS: The study’s results here revealed from the significant differences on the muscular circumferences of the left and right sides, and a correlation between the morphologic characteristics and the training parameters of the Shot Put. The results also underline the importance of the laterality in the practice of activities like the Shot Put.
CONCLUSIONS: This work put light on the importance the manual laterality and the anthropometrical characteristics in the context of the training. Although the asymmetries are not the only determinant factors of the performance, they represent a considerable aspect of the amelioration of the athletic competence and the optimization of the strategies of the training.

KEY WORDS: Athletic performance; Exercise; Anthropometry