Digit Ratio and Its Relationship With Aerobic and Anaerobic Capacities Among Talented Young Footballers

Abstract

Digit ratio has been investigated extensively and in certain studies has been shown to be predetermined as early as in the womb. Digit ratio is often associated with varied human performance in various aspects such as fertility, psychology, disease, and sports. It has been reported that athletes with higher testosterone levels excel over than those with low testosterone levels. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the association of low digit ratio with talented young footballers’ aerobic and anaerobic capacities. The study selected 29 subjects (N=29), comprising male students aged 10.41±0.57 (years) actively undergoing football training at the Kuala Lumpur Football Association (KLFA) Academy. Spearman’s Rho result indicates that low digit ratio is moderately correlated with aerobic capacity, which was tested by using One Mile Run test (MRW) with = 0.406, p = 0.029. Meanwhile, concerning the association between low digit ratio and anaerobic capacity through 50-meter sprint tests, the results deduced from Spearman’s Rho revealed that there is no significant correlation, with =-.128, p=0.509. In conclusion, these results may give further insights into the influence of digit ratio on energy capacities if the sample size is improved with a thorough methodology. Given a larger sample size and detailed research in future, digit ratio could be a good indicator in classifying athletes based on their dominant energy system capacity.