Correlation of Handgrip Strength and Selected Anthropometric Variables in Indian Inter-University Cricketers

Introduction Cricket is a popular team game in most Commonwealth countries. The objectives of the present study were to estimate the handgrip strength of inter-university cricketers, and to search its correlations with selected anthropometric variables studied. Materials and Methods A total of 100 inter-university cricket players (50 males and 50 females) aged 18-25 years were selected purposively from different universities of Punjab, India. An adequate number of controls (n=100, 50 males and 50 females) were taken from the same place for comparisons. To serve these purposes, dominant and non-dominant handgrip strength and eight anthropometric variables, viz. height, weight, body mass index, arm muscle girth, arm muscle area, arm area, arm fat area and arm fat index were measured on all the subjects. The age of the subjects was determined from their respective university records. Results The one way analysis of variance of handgrip strength indicated statistically significant between-group differences (p0.003-0.001) with all the variables studied, except, arm fat index. In cricket players, statistically significant positive correlations (p0.03-0.001) of dominant handgrip strength were found with weight, arm muscle girth, arm muscle area, arm area, arm fat area, arm fat index and non-dominant handgrip strength. Whereas, statistically significant positive correlations (p0.004-0.001) of non-dominant handgrip strength in cricket players were found with weight and dominant handgrip strength only. Conclusion It may be concluded from the findings of the present study that cricketers have higher mean values in almost all the variables due to playing habit and training effects. In cricket players, dominant handgrip strength had significantly positive correlations with weight, arm muscle girth, arm muscle area, arm area, arm fat area, arm fat index and non-dominant handgrip strength.