An association of hand grip strength with some anthropometric variables in Indian cricket players

Abstract

The purpose of this study was of two-fold, firstly, to compare the hand grip strength (both right and left) and twelve anthropometric variables of cricketers with their control counterparts and, secondly, to search the correlation of hand grip strength with those anthropometric variables in cricketers. To solve this purpose, a total of 103 district and state level male cricketers from Amritsar, Punjab, India, aged 17 - 21 years (mean 18.29 ± 2.21) were selected purposively as the samples of the study along with an adequate control group (n = 101). The findings of the present study indicate that cricketers have higher mean values in six variables and lesser mean values in seven variables than their control counterparts, showing statistically significant differences (P ≤ 0.05) in all the variables (except arm muscle area) between them. In cricketers, right and left hand grip strength have significantly positive correlations with all the variables studied except percent lean body mass. From the findings of the present study, it may be concluded that, hand grip strength might be an acceptable indicator for the excellent performance in cricket as well as a useful selection criterion for this sport. .