Long jump: the are body height and body weight good predictors of performance in elite jumpers?
Keywords:
anthropometric characteristics, elite jumpers, influence, long jumpAbstract
Long jump are cyclic-acyclic movements of maximum intensity. It is a discipline that
combines speed and jump in technique, that is, the speed-strength properties of competitors.
Speed, agility and explosiveness are of special importance in jumpers. The main goal of the
research is to determine the influence of Body height (BH) and Body weight (BW) with the best
achieved results of Long jump. Material and methods: In study included 21 top male jumpers
(BH=184.19±4.68cm; BW=78.86±6.81kg). Their achieved best results were analyzed. Pearson
correlation coefficient was used to determine the relationship between body height and body
weight and the results of long jumpers. Univariate model of regression analysis was applied and
the relevant coefficients were calculated. The level of acceptance of statistical significance was set
to p<0.05. Results: Simple regression analysis did not show a statistically significant effect of Body
height on the results in the long jump (BH vs. Long jump R=0.183; p>0.05), while Body weight
confirmed a significant inverse relationship with the results of the jump (BW vs. Long jump R= -
0.442; p<0.05). Conclusion: Long jumpers contain a large percentage of active muscle mass that
integrates and generates motor explosive abilities for the success of long jumpers, primarily
strength and speed, which is confirmed by the results of the study. However, a good jump
technique is also necessary, but with optimal body weight, because any increase in weight has a
negative effect on the length of the long jump.