Marijana Čavala

The Relationship Between Handball Players and Alcohol and Smoking Habits

Abstract Recent studies have revealed that sport activity is a protective factor regarding smoking, but a risk factor for alcohol abuse. Considering these findings, it is necessary to investigate the occurrence of substance misuse. Sports that are associated with a substantial amount of physical/mental stress are very interesting from the perspective of substance misuse (e.g., handball). This research was performed to more closely study the population engaged in handball regarding the risk for alcohol and/or tobacco consumption. The sample of respondents consisted of 150 senior handball players who were members of 9 first-league handball clubs from Croatia and abroad. The respondents were grouped into sub-samples according to sex, age, experience, the number of weekly training sessions and their social environment (clubs). Alcohol consumption data were obtained using the AUDIT questionnaire. The differences between groups were tested using the Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney U tests. The study revealed that handball players engaged in alcohol misuse, and they were grouped in the harmful drinking category (AUDIT score, 16-19 for all groups). Regarding tobacco product consumption, the risk groups were women (who smoked significantly more than men, MWU test: Z = 3.30. p < 0.001), handball players with less experience (who smoked significantly more than experienced players, MWU test: Z = 3.68, p < 0.001). Borderline significance was observed for the impact made by social environments, and age was not a significant predictor of tobacco consumption. Regarding alcohol consumption, the highest hazard group were national handball players, who drank much more than foreign players did (MWU test: Z = 2.04, p = 0.04); however, sex, age, experience and training habits were not alcohol consumption predictors in handball. This study reveal that the typical behaviors regarding alcohol and tobacco consumption followed by the general population do not apply to handball players. Targeted prevention can be much more precisely established considering this research.

Factors of success in advanced level wrestling; reliability and validity of several diagnostic methods

Achievement in contemporary Olympic wrestling depends largely on upper body strength, endurance and anaerobic power [1-3]. Studies have found that elite wrestlers possess a higher fat free mass, vertical jump height, anaerobic Wingate power, dynamic and isokinetic strength, in comparison to their less successful peers [1,4,5]. Due to biomechanical and anatomical similarity to sport of wrestling, different arm-cranking test protocols were applied in testing the physical capacities of the wrestlers [6-9]. This test was applied in wrestling as a common arm Wingate, or modified arm Wingate or variable intensity arm crank test designed to be similar to wrestling match conditions [1,3,4,10]. Transcutaneous monitoring is a noninvasive method to estimate the partial pressure of oxygen (tcpO2) on the skin surface by employing noninvasive heated electrodes [11,12]. It has been shown that arterial and transcutaneous blood gas values are highly correlated [13]. The tcp O2 is a known diagnostic tool in several medical treatments (wound evaluation, hyperbaric therapy, amputation level determination, plastic surgery, and peripheral vascular disease assessment), but it’s usage is suggested for assessment of the intramuscular oxygen partial pressure among healthy subjects during exercise [14,15]. The aim of this study was to determine the differences between high-level and top-level wrestling athletes in several fitness parameters including tcpO2 measures. This included the validation of the applied tests in defining the differences between top-level and high-level wrestlers, apart from the fact that very few studies investigated fitness factors which contribute to success in competitive wrestling, we have found no study which investigated differences between high-level wrest lers in pursuit of small gains performance (i.e. high-level and toplevel athletes). Apart from standard and known sport-specific measuring protocols, in this study the arm-cranking test is modified in order to design the measuring procedure of si mi lar physical demands as they appear throughout a wrestling match.

Karate Efficiency With The Function Of Developing Some Anthropological Features In 7th And 8th Grade Pupils In The Elementary School/ Efikasnost karatea u funkciji razvoja nekih antropoloških obilježja učenika 7. i 8. razreda osnovne škole

Abstract The aim of this research is to identify significant anthropological factors important for success in a karate fight by which we may obtain some information on the complexity of karate in the latent structure significant in the application of karate as a sport in education, and as part of curricular and extracurricular activities. For this purpose, we applied a set of 18 anthropometrical measures, a set of 10 basic motor tests, a set of 5 situation-related motor karate tests, a set of 8 performance marks in 6 basic karate techniques and 2 karate kata on the sample of 105 pupils aged 13-15 who, in addition to their physical education classes, have been engaged in karate training for at least 4 years. By factor analyses in the morphological domain, we isolated the ecto-mesomorphy factor and endomorphy factor; in the basic motor domain we isolated the factor of general motor efficiency; in the situation-related motor domain we isolated the factor of specific speed and the factor of specific agility and in the domain of karate techniques performance marks, we isolated the factor of technical efficiency. Further on, by applying canonical discriminant analyses we established differences between quality and less quality pupils - all active karate athletes in the complete domain of isolated factors. The discriminant function showed that karate athletes of higher quality, compared to those of lower quality, mostly differ in greater technical efficiency, followed by greater basic and specific motor efficiency, in addition to having some less adipose tissue. Key words: biomotor status; differences; factors; karate; physical education. --- Sažetak Cilj istraživanja je identificirati znacajne antropoloske faktore važne za uspjeh u karate borbi, cime se mogu dobiti informacije o kompleksnosti karatea u latentnoj strukturi važnoj za primjenu karate sporta u edukaciji, putem izvanskolskih i skolskih aktivnosti. Zato je na uzorku od 105 ucenika RH koji se uz nastavu TZK najmanje 4 godine bave karateom, uzrasne dobi od 13 do 15 godina, primijenjen skup od 18 antropometrijskih mjera, skup od 10 temeljnih motorickih testova, skup od 5 situacijskih motorickih testova iz karatea, skup od 8 ocjena izvedbe 6 osnovnih karate tehnika i 2 karate kate. Faktorska analiza je izolirala u morfoloskom prostoru: faktor ekto-mezomorfije i faktor endomorfije; u temeljnom motorickom prostoru: faktor generalne motoricke efikasnosti; u situacijskom motorickom prostoru: faktor specificne brzine i faktor specificne agilnosti; i u prostoru ocjena izvedbe karate tehnika: faktor tehnicke efikasnosti. Zatim su primjenom kanonicke diskriminativne analize utvrđene razlike između kvalitetnih i manje kvalitetnih ucenika – aktivnih karatista u ukupnom prostoru izoliranih faktora. Diskriminativna je funkcija pokazala kako se karatisti vece kvalitete u odnosu na karatiste manje kvalitetne najvise razlikuju u vecoj tehnickoj efikasnosti, zatim u vecoj temeljnoj i specificnoj motorickoj efikasnosti i koji imaju nesto manje masnog tkiva. Key words: biomotoricki status; karate; faktori; razlike; tjelesna i zdravstvena kultura.

Karate Efficiency and the Development of Some Anthropological Features among 7th and 8th Grade Pupils in Elementary School

Abstract The aim of this research is to identify significant anthropological factors important for success in a karate fight by which we may obtain some information on the complexity of karate in the latent structure significant in the application of karate as a sport in education, and as part of curricular and extracurricular activities. For this purpose, we applied a set of 18 anthropometrical measures, a set of 10 basic motor tests, a set of 5 situation-related motor karate tests, a set of 8 performance marks in 6 basic karate techniques and 2 karate kata on the sample of 105 pupils aged 13-15 who, in addition to their physical education classes, have been engaged in karate training for at least 4 years. By factor analyses in the morphological domain, we isolated the ecto-mesomorphy factor and endomorphy factor; in the basic motor domain we isolated the factor of general motor efficiency; in the situation-related motor domain we isolated the factor of specific speed and the factor of specific agility and in the domain of karate techniques performance marks, we isolated the factor of technical efficiency. Further on, by applying canonical discriminant analyses we established differences between quality and less quality pupils - all active karate athletes in the complete domain of isolated factors. The discriminant function showed that karate athletes of higher quality, compared to those of lower quality, mostly differ in greater technical efficiency, followed by greater basic and specific motor efficiency, in addition to having some less adipose tissue. Key words: biomotor status; differences; factors; karate; physical education. --- Sažetak Cilj istraživanja je identificirati znacajne antropoloske faktore važne za uspjeh u karate borbi, cime se mogu dobiti informacije o kompleksnosti karatea u latentnoj strukturi važnoj za primjenu karate sporta u edukaciji, putem izvanskolskih i skolskih aktivnosti. Zato je na uzorku od 105 ucenika RH koji se uz nastavu TZK najmanje 4 godine bave karateom, uzrasne dobi od 13 do 15 godina, primijenjen skup od 18 antropometrijskih mjera, skup od 10 temeljnih motorickih testova, skup od 5 situacijskih motorickih testova iz karatea, skup od 8 ocjena izvedbe 6 osnovnih karate tehnika i 2 karate kate. Faktorska analiza je izolirala u morfoloskom prostoru: faktor ekto-mezomorfije i faktor endomorfije; u temeljnom motorickom prostoru: faktor generalne motoricke efikasnosti; u situacijskom motorickom prostoru: faktor specificne brzine i faktor specificne agilnosti; i u prostoru ocjena izvedbe karate tehnika: faktor tehnicke efikasnosti. Zatim su primjenom kanonicke diskriminativne analize utvrđene razlike između kvalitetnih i manje kvalitetnih ucenika – aktivnih karatista u ukupnom prostoru izoliranih faktora. Diskriminativna je funkcija pokazala kako se karatisti vece kvalitete u odnosu na karatiste manje kvalitetne najvise razlikuju u vecoj tehnickoj efikasnosti, zatim u vecoj temeljnoj i specificnoj motorickoj efikasnosti i koji imaju nesto manje masnog tkiva. Key words: biomotoricki status; karate; faktori; razlike; tjelesna i zdravstvena kultura.

Karate Efficiency and the Development of Some Anthropological Features among 7th and 8th Grade Pupils in Elementary School/Efikasnost karatea u funkciji razvoja nekih antropoloških obilježja učenika 7. i 8. razreda osnovne škole

Abstract The aim of this research is to identify significant anthropological factors important for success in a karate fight by which we may obtain some information on the complexity of karate in the latent structure significant in the application of karate as a sport in education, and as part of curricular and extracurricular activities. For this purpose, we applied a set of 18 anthropometrical measures, a set of 10 basic motor tests, a set of 5 situation-related motor karate tests, a set of 8 performance marks in 6 basic karate techniques and 2 karate kata on the sample of 105 pupils aged 13-15 who, in addition to their physical education classes, have been engaged in karate training for at least 4 years. By factor analyses in the morphological domain, we isolated the ecto-mesomorphy factor and endomorphy factor; in the basic motor domain we isolated the factor of general motor efficiency; in the situation-related motor domain we isolated the factor of specific speed and the factor of specific agility and in the domain of karate techniques performance marks, we isolated the factor of technical efficiency. Further on, by applying canonical discriminant analyses we established differences between quality and less quality pupils - all active karate athletes in the complete domain of isolated factors. The discriminant function showed that karate athletes of higher quality, compared to those of lower quality, mostly differ in greater technical efficiency, followed by greater basic and specific motor efficiency, in addition to having some less adipose tissue. Key words: biomotor status; differences; factors; karate; physical education. --- Sažetak Cilj istraživanja je identificirati znacajne antropoloske faktore važne za uspjeh u karate borbi, cime se mogu dobiti informacije o kompleksnosti karatea u latentnoj strukturi važnoj za primjenu karate sporta u edukaciji, putem izvanskolskih i skolskih aktivnosti. Zato je na uzorku od 105 ucenika RH koji se uz nastavu TZK najmanje 4 godine bave karateom, uzrasne dobi od 13 do 15 godina, primijenjen skup od 18 antropometrijskih mjera, skup od 10 temeljnih motorickih testova, skup od 5 situacijskih motorickih testova iz karatea, skup od 8 ocjena izvedbe 6 osnovnih karate tehnika i 2 karate kate. Faktorska analiza je izolirala u morfoloskom prostoru: faktor ekto-mezomorfije i faktor endomorfije; u temeljnom motorickom prostoru: faktor generalne motoricke efikasnosti; u situacijskom motorickom prostoru: faktor specificne brzine i faktor specificne agilnosti; i u prostoru ocjena izvedbe karate tehnika: faktor tehnicke efikasnosti. Zatim su primjenom kanonicke diskriminativne analize utvrđene razlike između kvalitetnih i manje kvalitetnih ucenika – aktivnih karatista u ukupnom prostoru izoliranih faktora. Diskriminativna je funkcija pokazala kako se karatisti vece kvalitete u odnosu na karatiste manje kvalitetne najvise razlikuju u vecoj tehnickoj efikasnosti, zatim u vecoj temeljnoj i specificnoj motorickoj efikasnosti i koji imaju nesto manje masnog tkiva. Key words: biomotoricki status; karate; faktori; razlike; tjelesna i zdravstvena kultura.

Razlike motoričkih sposobnosti učenica rukometašica i onih koji se ne bave sportom

Summary The study was conducted on 75 thirteen year old girls, with the aim to determine which basic mobility measurement tests can detect the differences between groups of women who train handball and those who do not practice sports. Analysis of variance has shown that handball players are superior in tests of explosive strength and agility, while the difference was not found in tests of flexibility and dynamic strength. It can be assumed that the kinesiology structures that are based on long repetition may not be appropriate to the handball game; they are less important for the success of a situational player than a single movement or to a lesser extent repeated maximally quick and explosive movements. This study has given a series of information that might have their practical application in a purposeful orientation and selection of gifted handball players, in a higher-quality construction of a work program in handball, and in the easier operationalization or implementation of transformation processes.