| dc.description.abstract | The prevalence of morphological asymmetry amongst sport participants and sedentary
individuals has been well documented. The importance of studies in this field is
accentuated by the fact that morphological asymmetry has a negative effect on the health
and performance of elite athletes. The purpose of this study was, therefore, firstly to
determine whether significant differences for thirty five anthropometrical measurements
exist between the dominant and nondominant sides of male (n = 16) and female (n = 11)
crawl stroke swimmers. Dependent t-tests were used for this purpose. All of the
measurements were taken twice on both the dominant and nondominant sides of the
body, according to the methods described by Norton et al. (1996). Amongst the male
swimmers, the (relaxed-, tensed- and corrected-) upper arm girths, wrist girth, thigh girth
and lower leg length showed statistically significant (p < 0.05) differences. Amongst the
female swimmers statistically significant (p < 0.05) differences were found for the thigh
girth, upper leg length and foot length. The second purpose was to compare the indices of
morphological asymmetry of twenty upper body anthropometrical variables of the male
swimmers to that of male fast bowlers (n = 27) and aged-matched sedentary males (n =
27). This comparison was done using an ANOVA with Tukey post hoc tests. The indices
of morphological asymmetry were determined with Wolaiiski's Relative Indices of
Asymmetry (RIA). The RIA for the twenty upper body measurements for the three groups
in this comparison are also reported. Statistically significant (p < 0.05) differences were
found for the (relaxed, tensed and corrected) upper arm girths and halfchest girth when
the fast bowlers were compared to the male swimmers as well as for the comparison
between the fast bowlers and the sedentary individuals. A statistically significant (p <
0.05) difference was also found for the hand length between the fast bowlers and the
sedentary individuals. To conclude, all four of the measured groups showed indices of
morphological asymmetry for certain anthropometrical variables, with the fast bowlers
showing the highest indices and the swimmers showing the lowest indices of
morphological asymmetry. These results support the notion that swimming may have
preventive and therapeutic value for athletes who show a high degree of morphological
asymmetry due to participation in unilateral sport types. Further research is, however,
required. | |
