Fitness profile of Malaysian adolescent squash players

Abstract

Squash is an indoor game that is the second fastest racket sports if compared to badminton and tennis. Squash game puts a high demand on physical fitness of elite players which requires a quick development of high force, rapid changes of direction and fast reaction. The objective of this study was to develop the physical fitness profile of Malaysian junior state squash players. Sixty five 10 to 18 years old male Kelantan state squash players were tested with seven skill-related fitness tests. SPSS version 20.0 was used to analyze the data collected from the tests. A one-way ANOVA was used to detect statistical differences between groups. A posthoc test (LSD) was performed to determine differences in in the variables between groups. The data was collected for flexibility, speed, muscular endurance, power of upper and lower extremities, agility and cardiovascular endurance. There were significant differences in the mean speed, muscular endurance, agility, power of lower extremities, power of upper extremities, flexibility and predicted VO2max between 13-15 and 16-18 years of age groups when compared to 10-12 years old players (p<0.05). Similarly, there were significant differences in speed, muscular endurance, agility, power of lower extremities, power of upper extremities, flexibility and VO2max between 16-18 and 13-15 year old players (p<0.05).