Analysis of the body composition of the players of the Spanish blind football team

Abstract

The Body Composition (BC) of athletes is a value that varies depending on the sport modality. In addition, it is a determining factor in sports performance, and can influence injury prevention. In soccer practiced by people without disabilities, several studies analyze the differences in the BC of the players depending on the playing position and competitive level. On the contrary, there are few studies that analyze BC in sports for people with disabilities, specifically in professional Blind Soccer (BS) players. The objective of this study was to analyze the BC based on the laterality and the Game Position of the players of the Spanish BS Team.

The study presents a descriptive and cross-sectional quantitative design, of an ecological nature. The sample consisted of 12 players (Age: 28.76 ± 8.89 years, Weight: 73.89 ± 10.79 kg, and Height: 176.82 ± 9.07 cm), belonging to the Spanish BS Team during a concentration prior to the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. For this, a BC-601 model BC monitor (TANITA, Tokyo, Japan) was used.

The results show that there are no significant differences in any of the analyzes carried out based on Laterality and Game Position. However, BC is one of the determining factors of sports performance and establishing BC ranges in professional BS athletes will allow establishing patterns for selecting players. On the other hand, given the scarcity of research found, it is recommended to carry out studies that analyze the BC of the players and its influence on the processes and stages of training in order to determine the influence of BC on sports performance.