RESUMO
The aim of the study was to identify morphological structures of young female volleyball players according to age, and to assess the impact of these morphological structures on technical and situation efficacy. A set of 13 morphological measures as predictor variables, a set of 6 technique elements, and assessment of performance quality as criterion variables were employed in a sample of 246 female volleyball players. The sample consisted of 32 players aged 12-13, 147 players aged 14-15, 50 players aged 16-17, and 17 players aged 18-19. Analysis of variance showed the female volleyball players of various age groups to differ significantly according to the variables assessing the longitudinal skeleton dimensionality, and body mass and volume, as well as in all tests used on volleyball technique evaluation. Factor analysis of morphological measures applied across all age groups generally yielded two morphological structures: the one determined by skeleton development, i.e. longitudinal and transverse bone growth, and another one determined by soft tissue development, i.e. muscle and adipose tissue growth. Results of regression analysis revealed the longitudinal skeleton dimensionality to significantly determine the block technique performance across all age groups, and to a lesser extent performance of the spike technique in the 14-15 and 16-17 age groups. Regression correlation analysis also showed the developed skeleton based on the predominance of longitudinality to be a significant positive predictor of situation performance in all age groups.
