Height as a talent promotion factor in women's volleyball. Analysis of the World Grand Prix 2004-2012

Abstract

Height is a core factor for talent promotion in volleyball, but we question if its supremacy should be observed in training programs for elite-level women’s volleyball. Our purpose was to analyze the height of women volleyball players participating in the World Grand Prix (WGP) and to retrieve information relevant for characterizing the elite-level volleyball and to inform talent promotion programs. We analyzed 2074 players participating in the WGP from 2004 to 2012. Descriptive statistics were calculated. One-way ANOVA was used to verify the existence of differences in height according to ranking. Post-hoc testing was conducted using the Scheffé test. A significance level of .05 was established. The players’ average height was 182.5±7.6 cm. From 2008 to 2012, between 1 and 2% of the participants were under 160 cm. Differences existed between the rankings with respect to average height (F3=15.125, p≤0.001, η2p=0.021). Teams classified in the first four spots of the competition presented an average height that was significantly superior to that found for the remaining teams. Height is a relevant factor for achieving elite-level women’s volleyball. However, there is evidence that shorter players still have an important role to play at this level. Shorter players may be relevant for enhancing the quality of training sessions and on performing specific tasks during preparation; hence, they might be decisive in potentiating the quality of the players that actually get to enter the court.