The anthropometric characteristics of futsal players compared with professional soccer players

Abstract

Purpose. The aim of the study was to compare the morphological characteristics of experienced futsal players with professional soccer players. Methods. The research sample included 22 university futsal players and 22 professional soccer players. Parameters including body height and mass, skinfold thicknesses of the trunk and extremities, lower limb length, trunk width, humerus and femur bone breadths, and the circumferences of the chest, hips, thighs, and calves were used to calculate various somatic indices. Somatotyping was performed using the Heath-carter method. Differences in the characteristics between the futsal and soccer players were analyzed using Student's t test. Intragroup analysis was also performed on futsal players depending on player position and compared with the arithmetic means and standard deviations of all variables of the entire sample. Results. compared with their soccer-playing peers, the futsal players were shorter, weighed less, had shorter lower limbs, narrower hips, and smaller hip circumference and bone breadth values. In contrast, higher levels of body fat and endomorphy were noted in this group. The proportion of mesomorphs and ectomorphs were similar in both groups. Futsal goalkeepers were differentiated by greater subcutaneous adiposity and body mass. Defenders had the slimmest body shape, with relatively narrower shoulders and hips, smaller bone breadths, and lower levels of adiposity. The body build of wingers was slightly larger. Pivoters were characterized by greater body height and larger values for the characteristics measuring the lateral trunk dimensions. Conclusions. The observed morphological differences between futsal and soccer players were mainly in body height and height-associated characteristics. This indicates that no specialized approach in futsal recruitment is currently used. This points to the need to develop a specialized approach in the player recruitment stage, as the tactical and technical constructs of futsal set the game apart from other indoor soccer games, finding that futsal players share a number of morphological similarities with handball players.

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“…Thus, in our study, we did not have to consider the body type structure during the analysis of the obtained data (Corrêa, Davids, & Tani, 2014). In addition, the data we received confirmed previous results from other researchers that were related to the peculiarities of the body structure of the futsal players with different positional roles (Burdukiewicz, Pietraszewska, & Goliński, 2014;Iedynak, Galamandjuk, & Сhopik, 2017). In addition, during a competitive activity, the largest energy expenditure was exhibited by the defenders, and the pivots and goalkeepers exhibited almost identical energy expenditures.…”

“…The information about the energy expenditure of each futsal team player has a practical value because it will help trainers with their training activities. Energy expenditure of players is due to many reasons (Kagawa, Kobata, & Nakamura, 2014;Burdukiewicz, Pietraszewska, & , Goliński, 2014). Our study showed that all players belonged to the same body type structure, namely ectomorph.…”

Characteristics of anteroposterior curvatures of the spine in soccer and futsal players

“…Overall, the futsal players under study were shorter and lighter that nontraining students and soccer players. burdukiewicz et al [3] revealed no significant differences in body build between futsal players and professional soccer players. The results of the present study do differ from those obtained by other authors.…”

“…The general model of the players' morphological characteristics varies depending on their pitch position, which is related to the performance of different activities [3,4].…”

Anthropometric characteristics of professional football players in relation to the playing position and their significance for success in the game

“…Introduction 1 Football is a game in which anthropometric characteristics are important factors for specific gaming positions [1]. Morphological characteristics [2,3] successfully distinguish footballers compared to the competitive level and the game position [4] and they are important factors in selecting players in team sports [5,6] describing the structure of the body of the player based on a large number of anthropometric data [7], which define the longitudinal and transversal dimensionality of the skeleton, mass and volume of the body [8] and they are under great influence of endogenous and exogenous factors [9]. In many studies it has been confirmed that the morphological characteristics of athletes can influence the success in achieving sports results [10,11].…”