Journal of Education Research and Development Vol.1 (2):167-172
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
AND SHOOTING ABILITY OF KWARA STATE BASKETBALL
PLAYERS
BY
DOMINIC, O.L.
Department of Physical and Health Education
University of Ilorin, Nigeria.
Abstract
Physical characteristics of athletes have been greatly documented to
influence performance negatively or positively, without exception to
basketball. The study was conducted to find out the relationship between
physical characteristics and shooting ability of Kwara State basketball
players. The ex-post-facto design was used and the Kwara state junior and
senior basketball teams formed the samples of twelve and fifteen each for the
study. It was found that there were no significant differences in the shooting
ability and no significant relationship between the shooting ability (p>r) and
the upper and lower body length segments of the junior and senior players.
This indicates that there is no particular body segment that contributes
independently to shooting ability but a sequential combination of them.
Therefore there is a need for the Kwara state basketball teams to improve on
their shooting skills through specialized practice of the different shots,
through a well harnessed daily programme. Also, coaches need to study
each player shooting mechanics in order to correct, where necessary, for
better shooting percentages.
Introduction
Basketball is one of the most popular sports in Nigeria. It is a game
played by both males and females across many age groups and levels of
participation from recreational to professional sports. In Nigeria, the game
also is played at all levels from amateur to professional competitions.
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Nigeria has been adequately represented at both levels, from intercollegiate
to world championship, in both junior and senior men and women
categories.
However, physical characteristics of a person, like body shape or
proportion impose constraints upon his/her capacity for sport performance
(Agbonjimi, 1995; Oranugo, 1997). The physical characteristics of athletes
have long been associated with success or failure in sport competition.
Agbonjimi (1995) observed that a panoramic view of physique and
performance will show a striking relationship between physique and
performance in most sports, and this may be less than obvious in others as
that of stature and basketball. According to Reilly et al (1997) physique and
body composition either greatly limit or in some instances predispose an
individual’s successful participation in one activity or the other. Oranugo
(1995) added that Competitive sport, like basketball, demands the utmost
from the body and it is reasonable to expect to find in athletes’
demonstration of the relationship between structure and function (Oranugo,
1995). Basketball is a game in which body weight, height, long limbs are
pre-requisites and require specific body types and proportions for positional
plays (Okuneye and Osman, 1996; Ackland et.al (1997). This research was
therefore conducted to find out the relationship between lengths of different
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body segments and shooting ability of Kwara State players and the
differences between the junior and senior Kwara States team in these
variables.
Height or stature and its reach play crucial roles in sports, especially
in basketball playing ability and scoring. The height, age and size of
basketball players in relation to their opponents will be an additional
advantage with all other things in place. However previous findings have
revealed that people with similar height may vary height reached while
people with the same reach may vary in their height. Basketball requires
high levels of accuracy, speed and strength to continually shoot at the goal,
that is, the rim to win the game. According to Walters et al (1990), the
ability to shoot in the sport of basketball is a ‘key skill’, and is an integral
part of the game. Therefore an ability to shoot successfully from a variety of
distances would naturally be desirable and must be pursued. This paper,
therefore seeks to answer the questions below:
Are there any significant differences between Kwara State junior and senior
Basketball Players in their (i) physical characteristics of age, height and
weight? (ii) body lengths and shooting abilities? (iii) are there significant
differences between the guards, forwards and centres of both the junior and
senior teams in these variables?.
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Methods and Materials
The subjects for the study were the 12 junior and 15 senior Kwara
State male Basketball players, who volunteered and completed the
measurements. The age of the junior players was between 15 and 21 years,
while that of the senior players was above 21 years of age. These groups of
players are presently the state squads for both National competitions and
Sports festival. The physical characteristics of age (taken to the nearest 0.1
year), weight in kilogrammes, arm length and leg length were measured in
centimeters based on the standardized methods and instruments available as
approved by the International Society of Advanced Kin anthropometry,
ISAK (2000). Three measurements were taken for all the variables and the
mean of the three measurements for the shooting ability, 10 shots for each of
lay-up, free throw and jump shots were taken by the players, and the number
of successful shots was recorded.
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Results and Discussion
TABLE I:
Description of physical Characteristics of the Kwara State Basketball
Teams
S.D
Guard
Forward Centre
df
F
‘f’
12 17.92
1.56
-
-
-
-
-
-
15 24.27
3.2
-
-
-
-
-
-
Variable
Group N
Age (yrs)
A
B
Height(cm) A

X
194.0(2) 11 12.34* 4.26
12 176.17 9.04
160.33(3) 177(7)
B
15 183.2
9.04
176.21(7) 189.5(5) 189.9(5) 14 7.66*
Weight
A
12 67.92
13.22 55.33(3)
69.86(2) 80.0(2)
(cm)
B
15 79.89
9.37
83.8(5)
73.27(7)
11 3.16
88.69(3) 14 5.98*
A = junior (N) = number of athletes * =significant difference
B = senior
This study revealed that the senior players were older, taller and heavier than
the junior players, which was expected. In the junior team, the guards were
the shortest, smaller than the forwards and the centre players were the tallest
and heaviest. In the senior team, the guards were the smallest and shortest of
all, while there was no significant difference between the forwards and
centre players in their weight and height. These differences may be
5
3.89
4.26.
3.89
explained by the fact that adequate weight is necessary for stability and
balance in motion, and starting and stopping in addition to quickness in arms
and hands (Oranugo, 1995). Furthermore, in comparism of the Kwara state
teams to national and international players studied by Carter (1970) of
University of Iowa, and USSR basketball teams by both Cater (1970) and
Kukushikin (1964) and professional players by Pollock et al (1982) as
reported by Oranugo (1995), the Kwara State players were not inferior in
height and weight, especially the forwards and centres to the average height
range of 186.9 -189.4cm and weight range of 76.7 -90.9kg of the studied
players, which is comparable with the world standard (see table I).
TABLE: II
‘t’ values for differences between junior or senior basketball players in
different shots

Variable Group N
S.D
df
‘t’
T. crit
X
value
8.17
Lay up A
12
1.90
24
0.243
2.074
9.0
(no)
B
15
1.65
5.35
Jump
A
12
1.49
24
0.322
2.064
5.67
shot (No) B
15
1.15
4.33
Free
A
12
1.15
24
0.576
2.064
4.67
throw
B
15
1.88
(no)
This study showed insignificant differences between the junior and
senior teams of Kwara state Basketball players in their lay-up, jump shots
and free throw(see table II). The senior players did not show any superior
skill in shooting, which could be a pointer to their poor performances in
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national competitions; even the junior players performed better than the
senior basketball players in jump shot shooting which is the most viable shot
in game. According to Owolabi (1987), age cannot be separated from
experience, most especially in the high technical ball games, to which
basketball belongs. Age affects one’s level of maturation in every area of
human undertaking ( Ajayi- Vincent, 1996). This signifies that the senior
Kwara State players should be able to demonstrate better skills and better
shooting ability than junior players who are younger.
TABLE III:
Relationship between Body Lengths and Shooting Ability.
S.D
LU’r’ r2
JS’r’
r2
Ft ‘r’
r2
35.17
2.73
0.42
0.18
0.12
0.014
0.10
0.01
15
37.40
2.86
0.45
0.20
0.03
0.001
0.20
0.04
A
12
29.13
3.73
0.34
0.12
0.08
0.01
-0.03
0.001
B
15
30.45
2.20
0.45
0.20
0.17
0.08
0.20
0.04
A
12
20.03
1.53
0.45
0.20
-0.17
0.03
-0.20
0.04
B
15
21.21
3.25
0.20
0.04
-0.01
0.0001 0.16
0.028
Thigh
length
A
12
48.96
3.86
0.43
0.19
0.20
0.04
-0.12
0.014
B
15
49.13
3.20
0.14
0.02
0.13
0.017
0.04
0002
Lower
leg
A
12
44.30
4.14
0.46
0.21
0.54*
0.29*
-0.06
0.004
B
15
44.44
2.70
-0.38
0.14
-0.46
0.21
0.11
0.12
Foot
A
12
27.24
3.55
0.46
0.21
0.54*
0.29*
-0.06
0.004
B
15
29.44
2.60
-0.17
0.03
0.027
0.001
0.12
0.014
Variable Team
N
Upper
arm
A
12
B
Lower
arm
Hand

X
LU = Lay –Up; JS = Jump shot; FT = Free throw;
(p>r) A = 0.5324, B =0.5139)
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This study showed that there was insignificant relationship in the
upper body lengths (upper arm, lower arm and hand) and shooting ability of
the senior players, while only significant relationship was found in the
lower leg and foot and jump shot of the junior players, and this was only
between 29% of the players (see table III). This is an indication that there
was no major or distinct contribution of each segment singly, but all
collectively functioned together to produce the shots with other factors
constant. According to Fox and Matthew (1981), it is the arrangement of the
bones and muscles together that determine the mechanical effects; thus,
making shooting a sequential action in which all body parts contribute for
success. This is accomplished through experience which puts the senior
basketball team at an advantage over the junior players. Hudson (1982)
added that the search for the determinant of success is compounded by the
nature of shooting which allows for endless combinations of segmental
contributions in conjunction with numerous angles and velocities which can
result in shots which directly or indirectly fall through the basket. Therefore,
smooth integration of body segments is of paramount importance to shooting
accuracy.
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Table IV
ANOVA table of Body Lengths of Guards (G), Forwards (F)
and Centres (C) of the Kwara State Junior and Senior teams.
Variable
Upper arm
Lower arm
Hand
Tight length
Lower leg
Foot
Team
A
B
A
B
A
B
A
B
A
B
A
B
N
12
15
12
15
12
15
12
15
12
15
12
15
Df
11
14
11
14
11
14
11
14
11
14
11
14
Junior: G=3; F=7; C=2 (P > 4.26)
f. value
3.74
3.67
3.29
3.98*
18.09*
11.54*
2.12
0.12
4.13
2.15
2.67
2.90
Senior G=7; F=5; C=3 (P>3.89)
The above results showed the level of significant difference between the
guards, forwards and centres of the teams whereas it exists in. In the interposition differences, significant differences were found in the forearm and
hand lengths especially between the guards and forwards including centres
of the senior players, while significant differences only existed in the hand
lengths of the guards, forwards and centres of the junior players. The
discrimination is mostly between guards and centre players. Oranugo (1995)
pointed out that long arms are important for good reaching in making basket.
Ackland et. al (1997) found clear differences in absolute between guards,
forwards and centres, though forwards and centres exhibited some
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similarities for upper body dimensions as found in this study, with guards
showing different proportionality profile from either forwards or centres.
They explained that the roles of each position within the team were
considered to rationalize their findings, with the tallest and heaviest players
mainly the forwards and centres so also in the present study.
In Hayes’ (1989) study, he found that in shooting, the lower body was the
main contributor at the end of the propulsion phase, the forearms’
contribution increased and finally just before release, and the hand provided
the major contribution. He concluded that coordination of the body segments
is an important element in shooting ability. Therefore, more time must be
spent in practice of shooting for improvement and optimal performance.
Conclusion
The Kwara State senior players who are the major focus for this study
discriminated distinctly from the junior players in their body weight, height
and body length ratios, but not in shooting ability. It was found that no
single body segment independently lead to shooting ability, but the
integration of the whole body segments, through meaningful practice of the
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different types of shots. Skillful performance characteristics of shooting
therefore must include efficient motion through well-coordinated body
segments, proper timing and good muscular control.
Recommendations:
1
The Kwara State senior basketball team needs to improve on their
shooting skill, through specialized practice of types of shots and a
well harnessed daily programmes.
2
Coaches need to study player’s shooting mechanics in order to
correct, where necessary, for better scoring percentages.
3
There is a need for more researches into this area to detect other
areas that require interventions for optimal performance of the
Kwara State players in National outings.
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