ABSTRACT
Kinanthropometric profile, body composition and somatotype have become very popular terms among athletes and coaches in recent decades. The body composition of elite athletes has also received a great deal of attention from the scientific community due to its importance in competitions. In fact, there are many studies which define the anthropometric profile and/or body composition in different sports (Bloomlied and Sigererseth, 1965; Behnke and Royce, 1966; Costill, 1967; Hanson, 1973; Burke, 1980; Haymes and Dickenson, 1980; Baxter-Jones et al., 1995; Damsgaard et al., 2001; Pradas et al., 2003; Carrasco et al., 2005). In addition, muscle strength has been identified as other important element for fitness for the racket player (Chandler, 1998). However, there are few comparisons of anthropometric characteristics and body composition in young high-level tennis, badminton and table tennis players. Neither are there many reports concerning grip strength dynamometry. In fact, there are only a few comparisons of grip strength between genders (Beenakker et al., 2001; Luna et al., 2005).
