The Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness 2021 Jun 01

DOI: 10.23736/S0022-4707.21.12323-0

Copyright © 2021 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

lingua: Inglese

Relationship of regional and whole body morphology to vertical jump in elite soccer players: a data-driven approach

Tindaro BONGIOVANNI ^{1, 2}, Alessio ROSSI ³ ✉, F. Marcello IAIA ², Angela DI BALDASSARRE ⁴, Giulio PASTA ⁵, Paolo MANETTI ⁵, Giampietro ALBERTI ², Athos TRECROCI ²

¹ Department of Health, Performance and Recovery, Parma Calcio 1913, Parma, Italy; ² Department of Biomedical Sciences for Health, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milano, Italy; ³ Department of Computer Science, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy; ⁴ Department of Medicine and Aging Sciences, University G. D'Annunzio of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy; ⁵ Medical Department, Parma Calcio 1913, Parma, Italy

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to analyse the relationship of regional and whole body morphology to vertical jump performance and to compare the morphological features outlining high and low performers in professional soccer players.
METHODS: Twenty-one male soccer players were recruited. Whole and regional (upper and lower limbs) features were obtained in the form of body dimensional measurements. Then, all players were tested for vertical jump performance. A data-driven approach was used to group players according to their jump performance parameters (high vs low).
RESULTS: The regional morphological features presented higher correlations with vertical jump than whole body features. High and low performers were significantly different among upperand lower-limb morphology. No differences were observed among whole body features.
CONCLUSIONS: These findings indicate that, rather than the whole body, the use of morphological features linked to specific body regions may ensure a better interpretation of the soccer players’ physical potential in jump performance.

KEY WORDS: Anthropometry; Power; Strength; Body composition; Football