CORRELATIONS AMONG HANDEDNESS, HANDGRIP STRENGTH AND FRONT CRAWL SWIMMING PERFORMANCE IN ADOLESCENTS


SEVİMLİ D.

KINESIOLOGIA SLOVENICA, vol.22, no.3, pp.23-30, 2016 (ESCI) identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 22 Issue: 3
  • Publication Date: 2016
  • Journal Name: KINESIOLOGIA SLOVENICA
  • Journal Indexes: Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI)
  • Page Numbers: pp.23-30
  • Çukurova University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the relationships among hand grip strength, handedness and front crawl swimming performance in male and female adolescents. Data were collected from 22 female and 19 male, totally 41 swimmers aged from 13 to 18 years. Handedness was determined by using the Edinburgh Handedness Scale (Oldfield, 1971). Hand grip strength of right and left hands was measured by using an adjustable digital hand grip dynamometer. A nonparametric Mann-Whitney U test was used for comparison between right and left handed participants. Spearman correlation coefficients were calculated among variables in male and female adolescents. No significant difference was observed between right and left hand grip strength depending hand preferences in male and female adolescents. There was also no significant difference between right and left handers in 50 and 100 meters front crawl swimming performance. In both genders, there was significant negative correlation between left hand grip strength and 50 m front crawl swimming. On the other side, right and left hand grip strengths were also negatively well correlated with 100 m front crawl swimming in males. There was only significant correlation between handedness and right hand grip strength in males. It can be concluded that hand grip strength symmetry in swimmers can result in better short distance swimming performance due to resultant force effect on technique.