Journal of Physical Education and Research (JOPER) IX,No.II; June, 2006 EVALUATION OF THE BODY PROPORTIONS OF KWARA STATE BASKETBALL PLAYERS By DOMINIC, Olufunmilola L (M.ED) Department of Physical & Health Education University of Ilorin, Nigeria. Abstract Body size, shape and proportionality have been discovered to impose constraints upon capacity for optimal performance in sports. Therefore this study was carried out to evaluate the body proportions of percent body fat, fat mass and fat- free mass, and muscle mass of the Kwara state senior players. Purposive sampling technique was used to select 15 players who represented the state at both National sports festivals and National Basketball Championships. The expost- facto research design was used. It was discovered that the Basketball players had high fat free mass, and muscle mass and a normal BMI; but low fat mass and % body fat which was at a risk zone even for wellness when compared with standard norms; This low % body fat and a high muscle mass calls for nutritional interventions, since the more muscle mass the higher the metabolic rate and a need for more calories to meet up their energy need. This is as a result of hard workouts in order to replace muscle glycogen. This may be one of the reasons for poor outings of the team in national competitions. Introduction The physical Characteristics and body proportions of athletes have long been associated with success or failure in sport competition. Basketball, a game of speed, and penetration with frequent and aggressive body contracts (Speech & Finch 1998) require from players, high level of strength and fitness to more quickly around the court, and to safety execute a range of cutting, jumping and ball throwing Maneuvers. The forty minutes stopping time of match in basketball demands of the team to consistently score, dribble, defend, rebound and prevent the opponent from scoring point to win by Legal 1 means. This therefore demands specific qualities from the player body-makeup. Reilly, Seecher, Small and William (1997) pointed out that individual physique and body proportion or composition either greatly limit or to some extent in one activity or the other. Oranugo (1995) added that competitive sport demand the utmost from the body and it therefore reasonable to expect athletes demonstration of the relation of structure and function Percent body fat (% BF) has been defined as the percentage of total weight that composed of fat (Guttin 1980, corbin & Lindsay, 1997). Every person needs to possess a minimum amount of fat for good health and should not allow body fats level to drop too low or become too high, to prevent over fat, obesity or even malnutrition as a result of under nutrition. Fat free mass synonymous to body mass (LBM) refers to all the body, tissues with the exception of the stored deposit fat, This include muscle, bones and Nerve Fibres covering, as well as essential fats the body must posses for cell was construction and other structure.. Lean Body weight is a quantitative measure of lean body mass express in Kilogrammes (Amusa, Igbanugo, & Toriola, 1998, Ajaye – Vincent 2003). Matthew (1980) defined LBM as the total body weight minus the weight of the stored fat.and the more the LBM, the better. Nwankwo (1991) explained that this is so because of the active tissues of muscles which are contractile and necessary for daily task. The size of the muscle also accounts for increased strength and performance in power activities such as jumping to rebound or shoot, running up and down for forty minutes play. Therefore, the focus of this study is to estimate and evaluate the body proportion of % Body Fat, Fat Mass, Body Mass Index (BMI), Lean Body Mass (LBM) and muscle mass of the Kwara state senior Basketball player. 2 Hypothesis The following Hypotheses were formulated for the study; 1. The Kwara State Basketball Senior players (a)have no significant relative body weight and height required for Basketball playing ability; (b).and with no significant difference between the guards, forwards and centre position players. 2. The Kwara state senior basketball players have no significant % body fat and fat mass and no significant difference among the different position players. 3. The Kwara state senior basketball players have no significant lean body weight and muscle mass and also no significant difference among guards, forwards and centre players. METHODOLOGY Research Design: - The expost facto research design was used since the purpose of the study was to evaluate existing status of the senior basketball players without any manipulation. The population comprised of the Kwara state senior basketball players. The purposive sampling technique was to used to select fifteen subjects who completed the measurements as the sample. The ages of the players were above twenty-one years. These players have represented the State in National Sport festival and National league competition. 3 DOCUMENTATION Theinstruments for data collection were bathroom weighing scale (stone brand) which was used to measure the weight of the subjects to the nearest 0.1 kg (ii) Lange skinfold caliper (fat metre) was used to measure Skinbfold thickness; biceps, triceps, supra-iliac, and Subscapular to calculate % body fat, Fat mass and fat –free mass. % body fat was calculated using the Brozek et.al (1963) formula with mass and fat-free mass derived from the %body fat. This has been found to give a high reliability coefficient of 0.80 by Mc Ardle and Mc Ardle (1973) and 0.99 by Behnke and Wilmore (1974). Muscle mass was calculated as developed by Martins, Spenst, Drink water and Clarys (1990) and also had high coefficient correlation. Height length was calibrated on the Kwara state gymnasium wall in centimetre to determine the statures of the players. Age was obtained from players and non-elastic tape was used to measure body girths. The measurements were all taken based on the standardized methods and instrument available as approved by the International Society of Advancement of Kin-authropometry (ISAK 2000). Three trials were taken for all measurements and the averages were recorded. Results The descriptive statistics of mean and standard deviation were used and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to test inter-players positional differences in height, weight, and body proportion estimations. 4 Below are the presentations of the results; TABLE 1 PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE BASKETBALL PLAYERS. Variable N X S.D Guard Forward 7 5 Age (Yrs) 15 24.27 3.2 Height(Cm) SENIOR KWARA Centre 3 - df - Fcal STATE - F Table - 15 183.2 9.04 176.2 189.5 189.9 14 7.66* 3.89 Weight (Kg) 15 79.89 9.37 73.27 83.8 88.89 14 5.97* 3.89 In table 1 above, the senior basketball players have means and S.Ds of 24.271+- 3.2 for age; 183.2+9.04 for height and 79.89+9.37 weight which commensurate with that of international and professional basketball players. However, the guards were shorter and smaller to the forwards and center players and with ‘F’ value of 7.66, and 5.98 the significant difference were established for height and weight respectively; hence the rejection of the hypotheses, that the team has no relative height and weight for basketball playing ability and that there is no significant differences between guards, forward and the centre players.. 5 TABLE I1 ESTIMATION OF % BODY FAT, FAT-FREE, LEAN BODY WEIGHT AND MUSCLE MASS. VARIABLE N X S.D DF Fcal. F table 1. BODY FAT 15 4.69 2.21 14 1.05 3.89 2.FAT MASS 15 37.10 17.15 14 0.35 3.89 3.LEAN BODY 15 73.24 17.30 14 0.07 3.89 15 23.79 2.12 14 0.44 3.89 15 48.56 7.86 14 0.81 3.89 WEIGHT(KG) 4. BODY MASS INDEX(BMI) % 5. MUSCLE MASS The table reveals low % body fat of 4.69 + 2. 21, low fat mass (37.10) and high lean body weight of (73.24+17.30) and high muscle mass (48.56+7.86). The F. table is higher than the f calculated, indicating the acceptance of the hypothesis that significant differences do not exist in the guard, forward and centre players’ body proportion estimations. Discussion The Kwara state senior basketball players compared favorably well with both Olympics and international professional players in age, height and weight (international and professional players; Pollock, Foster, Anholm, Hare Ferrel, Maksud & Andrew 1982; Carter 1970; University of IOWA and Russia, Carter1970, Kukushinkin,1964). There was also positive relationship between height and weight correlate of the Kwara state players, implying that the taller a player is, the heavier he becomes. Oranugo (1995) supported that adequate weight is necessary for stability and balanced motion in speed plays of cutting and stopping, in addition to quickness in arms and hands. Also as reported by 6 Oranugo (1995) of the weight range (76.7-90.7kg) and height range (186.9198.4cm) of the above teams, the Kwara state senior basketball team’s age, height and weight commensurate with world standard and therefore possess significant body height and weight for optional performance in the basketball sport. The age of the Kwara state senior basketball players also fell within age range for optimal performance which DeVeries (1980) and Owolabi (1987) reported is between late teens and thirty years.. In the estimation of body proportional ratios, the players possess low % BF (4.69%) and there was no significant difference between the guards, forwards and centre players % BF. Through the BMI was normal without any cardiovascular risk (23.79). Fahey et.al (2001) reported that though low % BF is not a prevalent problem, but having too little is dangerous (-5 % in men, - 8 % in women) for furthermore, too much or too little can have negative effect on health, performances and even self image. This puts the senior basketball team in the danger zone especially with participation in vigorous and demanding sports like basketball. The reports of Durnin and Womersleys (1974) of % BF of 13+ 1 % as typical percentage value for elite male basketball players; Wilmore (1983) 8%;of professional basketball by Pollock et.al (1982) as 9.6 % and University basketball players 9.8% & as reported by Oranugo (1984), further buttressed the risk domain of the Kwara players. Heyward (1998) explained that these risks caused by too little fats are associated with Malnutrition, and therefore there is a need for nutritional intervention programme for the Kwara basketball players. Fahey et.al. (2001) added that the combinations of low level of eating habit are associated with nutritional habits imperative to the players. 7 There were no significant differences between the guards, forwards and centre players in muscle mass, fat mass and lean body weight (LBM) The superiority of the musculature of the Kwara state basketball players were demonstrated by high LBM (73.24+30) high muscle mass (37.10+17.51) which indicated that they are strong and well equipped. But according to Fahey et.al (1994) the more muscle mass the higher metabolic rate, indicating the need of the players for more calories to meet up with their energy needs. Rosato (1994) reported that muscles expend calories much more than fat and that, those who increase their fat free mass, associated with higher metablic rate, due to burning of calories thus raising the energy expenditure. O’ Shea (2000) explained that athletes can develop lean muscle-mass and strength without assuming the medical risks involve through correct balance of nutrition, rest and exercise, to achieve maximum peak athletic performance. The basketball players need to take a step of nutritional correctness, since nerve and muscle can not function optimally without steady supply of glycogen, consequently the harder they train and stress the muscle the more glycogen they require. Therefore following each day basketball hard workout, if the muscle glycogen is not replaced adequately through balanced diet, intensity of the following workout will suffer, thus leading to poor performance in National basketball Championship Conclusively, Hoeger (1987) added that the alterations in body composition most often attributed to aerobic performance are a decrease in fat free mass due to the burning of calories and loosing of the body fat. This is an indication of the significance of athletes’ weight monitoring and nutrition programme, because metabolic rate is directed proportional to lean body mass. CONCLUSION 8 The Kwara state senior basketball players have been found to compare favourably with world, professional and university players in age, weight and height. The players also had superior musculature of high muscle mass, lean body weight and normal BMI and low, fat mass and low % BF which is at risk level. The low risk level of % BF indicated a need for nutritional intervention due to too little body fat so as to be able to meet up with their body energy need, as a result of greater fat – free mass and muscle mass. This demands of the body more calories and restoration of glycogen depletion. This is as a result of extensive daily hardwork out with the basketball training sessions. The low body fat is established to have negative effect on health and optimal performances. RECOMMENDATION This study therefore recommends; 1. That the Kwara state senior team should be given special attention and care in area of nutrition by the state,by giving special allowances to the players to augment for their feeding since majority of the players are not sport council employees. 2. if possible, job opportunities should be extended to those who are not working; 3. During competition, proper feeding should be ensured for the athletes and the athletes’ health and fitness should be monitored. 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