Correlations of Handgrip Strength with Selected Anthropometric Variables in Indian Inter-University Kabaddi Players

Introduction Kabaddi is an ancient team-game of India. The objectives of the present study were to estimate the handgrip strength of inter-university kabaddi players, and to search its correlations with selected anthropometric variables. Materials and Methods A total of 100 inter-university Kabaddi 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, upper arm circumference, triceps skinfold, arm muscle area, arm fat area and % body fat 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 (p0.001) with all the variables studied. In male kabaddi players, statistically no significant correlations of dominant handgrip strength were found with any of the variables studied. Whereas, in female Kabaddi players, statistically significant positive correlations (p0.05-0.001) of dominant handgrip strength were found with weight, upper arm circumference and triceps skinfold. Conclusion It might be concluded from the findings of the present study that Kabaddi players had higher mean values in almost all the variables due to playing habit and training effects. In female kabaddi players, dominant handgrip strength had significantly positive correlations with weight, upper arm circumference, triceps skinfold.