The anthropometric and physical fitness profile of Iranian's national field hockey players in different positions

The physical fitness, form and the anatomy of the athletes have a significant role for their succession; therefore the present research aimed to describe the anthropometric and physical fitness profile of the Iranian’s national field hockey players. 29 players in the Iranian’s national team camp took part in the research voluntarily, with average age of 23.42±3.61 yr., height of 176.8±7.17 cm, weight of 71.62±8.32 kg. This group of players were consisted of four different positions; 4 goalkeepers, 10 defenders, 10 midfielders, and 5 strikers. The anthropometric characteristics including weight, BMI, sitting height, the arms’ length were measured by standard methods. Moreover, the physical fitness factors also were measured by following tests: 36 meters shuttle run, Illinois test, 10 × 20 meter, standing long jump, bending forward, 1600 meters, sit and reach, and Zig Zag jumps test. The statistical analysis was calculated using SPSS v.20 and MS Excel, through which the anthropometric and the physical fitness profile of the players in each position. The BMI of other characteristics of the goalkeepers, defenders, midfielders, and strikers are as follow respectively; 23.11±2.41 kg/m2, 23.11±1.6 kg/m2, 23.21±1.7 kg/m2, 21.71±1 kg/m2; the sitting height 94±4.71 cm, 94.21±5.11 cm, 93.51±4.91 cm, 97.21±3.51 cm; the arms’ length 181.23±6.11 cm, 180.44±8.63 cm, 177.74±8.06 cm, 185.43±7.65 cm; the speed 5.29±0.28 sec, 5.02±0.11 sec, 4.99±0.22 sec, 5.11±0.09 sec; the agility 15.85±0.53 sec, 17.04±0.77 sec, 15.2±0.41 sec, 15.42±0.93 sec; the speed endurance 44.37±0.8 sec, 48.73±1.66 sec, 43.86±0.75 sec, 43.59±0.73 sec; the lower limb power 240.2±15.53 cm, 245.43±14.13 cm, 245.33±16.53 cm, 249.48±9.43 cm; the flexibility 36±5.93 cm, 35.58±5.43 cm, 32.61±7.70 cm, 27.42±10.82 cm; the cardiovascular endurance 392 sec, 357 sec, 342±0.02 sec, 368±0.02 sec; the abdominal muscles endurance 63.76±6.21 no, 61.78±4.35 no, 57.68±4.59 no 56.49±4.84 no; and the lower limb muscles endurance 136.79±10.65 no, 140.32±13.60 no, 142.52±5.50 no, 140.60±10.90 no. The anthropometric characteristics of the Iranian players holding different positions are at favorable level, although they have weaknesses regarding most of the physical fitness parameters.