The height of the women’s winners FIVB Beach Volleyball in relation to specialization and court dimensions

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to record and compare the height of women’s winners in FIVB competitions in relation to their specialization and court dimensions (9×9 m and 8×8 m). The heights of 56 winners in 217 tournaments were processed. The winners were split in three groups depending on their specialization: 21 Defenders (DE), 22 Blockers (BL) and 13 without any specialization (No Specialization - NS). The average height of winners was found to be 178.8 ± 6.1cm (min= 165 cm and max=191 cm). The one way ANOVA showed that there were significant differences (F(2,53)= 20.198, p<0.001) between the DE, BL and NS players. The Post Hoc Scheffe indicated significant differences between the DE (M=173.7, SD=4.9 cm) and BL (M=182.1, SD=5.2 cm), as between DE and the NS (M=181.1, SD=3.2 cm). Also, significant difference was found (F(5,60) = 12.210, p<0.001) between the DE9×9, DE8×8, BL9×9, BL8×8, NS9×9 and NS8×8. The Post Hoc Scheffe indicated significant differences (p<0.05) between the DE9×9 (M=171.8, SD=4.7 cm) and BL9×9 (M=180.0, SD=2.8 cm), as (p<0.05) between BL8×8 (M=182.9, SD=5.6 cm) and DE9×9 (M=173.7, SD=5.1 cm. Also between NS9×9 (M=179.7, SD=2.3 cm) and DE9×9. Furthermore, the independent t-test found significant difference (t(18)=2.717, p<0.05) between the 10 first blockers in victories at 8×8 m (M=182.6, SD=5.0) and 9×9 m (M=177.0, SD=4.2). Overall, when considering heights versus specializations, blockers and not specialized players were taller than defenders for both court dimensions. Moreover, the top ten blockers in 8×8 courts were taller than those in 9×9, while defenders had no statistically significant difference. Smaller court dimensions appear to have favored taller players in the FIVB top ten winning teams in Beach Volleyball due to the greatest significance of blocking. But, the importance of agility in defense favored players with such skills and was not depend on height.