Speed, agility and explosive leg power in female junior volleyball players: A comparative study

Background: Success in performing professional volleyball is determined by many factors such as: motor abilities and skills, psychological conditions, and morphological structure of the players. Modern volleyball game requires from all players a high level of general motor abilities, as well as specific motor skills that are defining the volleyball game and certain playing positions. Aims and Objectives: The objectives of this study are: 1) to evaluate motor abilities (speed, agility and explosive leg power) in Macedonian Junior National League players; and 2) to compare Macedonian players with players from other countries in a qualitative manner. Study Design: A sample of 191 participants, female volleyball players aged 13-18 years, that are part of Junior National League in Macedonia, Albania, Serbia, Croatia, and Spain, was included. Setting: Macedonian Junior National League players (N=30) were evaluated at the Faculty of physical education, sport and health in Skopje, Republic of Macedonia. In order to extract data for players from other countries (N=161), papers published in peer-reviewed journals were used. Materials and Methods: Speed, agility and explosive leg power in Macedonian Junior National League players were assessed by applying: T20m, T505, squat jump, countermovement jump and countermovement jump with arm swing. The data regarding motor abilities in players from other countries were extracted from published papers. Statistics: To examine whether data have a normal distribution, Skewness and Kurtosis values, as well as Kolmogorov-Smirnov test were used. Basic mathematical and appropriate statistical methods were used in order to calculate descriptive statistical parameters by applying Microsoft Office Excel 2010. In order to compare Macedonian players, with players from Albania, Serbia, Croatia, and Spain, a Microsoft Office Excel spreadsheet was created. Results: Players that are part of Macedonian Junior National League are faster than the players from Croatian and Serbian Junior National League, but less agile than the players from Spanish Junior National League, and have lower explosive power of legs than players from Albanian and Serbian Junior National League. Conclusion: Thus, advice to Macedonian coaches would be to work more in a direction of motor abilities development, especially in pioneer and youth categories, instead of putting the main emphasis on player specialization at early age.