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This study aimed to describe morphological characteristics of elite female volleyball players from the highest Spanish league, with special focus on differences by performance level and playing positions. Nearly all female players playing in the highest Spanish volleyball league during season 2003/2004 participated in this study (N=148 elite players, 92% of the total). Anthropometric, body composition and somatotype parameters according to performance and playing positions were analysed. The players' characteristics were as follows; body mass 72.3 ± 8.4 kg; stature 179.8 ± 7.1 cm; body fat 24.0 ± 3.1% and skeletal muscle mass 27.3 ± 2.9 kg. Mean somatotype was 3.1 ± 0.7; 3.4 ± 0.9; 3.1 ± 0.9 characterised as central with a tendency to balanced mesomorph. Top level players (whose teams were better classified in the team performance ranking) were taller, had higher skeletal muscle mass and ectomorphy, and had a lower level of adiposity markers, compared with lower level players. Players selected for their respective National teams (individual performance) were taller, heavier, had higher muscle mass and lower endomorphy than non-selected players. Differences according to playing positions were found. This study provides a complete set of reference data on anthropometry, body composition and somatotype of elite female volleyball players. Morphological differences have been identified according to performance level and playing position.

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Positive Youth Development (PYD) programs are being used to foster holistic growth in children and adolescents. The hybridized application of two or more programs of this type has acquired special relevance in recent years. Although their application is common in the school context, there are few research studies that attempt their implementation in an extracurricular context. This study analyzed the effects of an intervention based on a hybrid PYD program on personal responsibility (PR) and social responsibility (SR) in youth volleyball players in an extracurricular context. A hybrid program was applied during the competitive season, with a total of 37 sessions with 30 girl students (15 experimental and 15 control) aged between 8 and 10 years (M = 8.87, SD = 0.82). A convergent mixed methods design was applied to integrate the following: (a) semi-structured interviews and field notes and (b) personal and social responsibility questionnaires. The results indicated that the implementation of the hybrid program appeared to yield a positive perception of learning in both the participants and the coach. Although there were no statistically significant intergroup or intragroup differences, the findings suggest that the hybrid program seems to be effective in fostering PR and SR in youth girl volleyball players.

Hernández-Hernández, E., Caballero-Blanco, P., Gómez-Rodríguez, A., & Morenas-Martín, J. (2014). Design and validation of an observational instrument to assess the technical execution in top-rope climbing. J. Hum. Sport Exerc., 9(1), pp.111-123. The aim of this study was to design and validate an observational instrument to assess the technical execution in top-rope climbing. This observational instrument allows researchers to assess the progression of climbers in relation to the achievement of key aspects of climbing movements. Firstly, a review of the specialized literature was performed to establish a set of criteria for observation. Secondly, content validation was carried out through the agreement and consensus method among ten expert judges at the qualitative level (degree of understanding, appropriateness of wording, relevance of questions, etc.), and quantitative level (global assessment on a scale from 0 to 10). Thirdly, this instrument was applied to a sample of seven climbers on an indoor climbing wall. Reliability was calculated through the application of the test-retest method. The results indicated that the instrument has optimal levels of reliability and validity for evaluating the technical execution of beginning climbers. The instrument can be considered as a useful tool which could be applied by instructors and teachers for discriminating the learning stage in beginning climbers.