| dc.description.abstract | The purpose of this study was threefold: 1) to investigate
the effect of seasonal training on anthropometry, muscular
strength and power, motor ability, flexibility, aerobic power,
and anaerobic power and capacity, 2) to investigate the
relationship between physical and physiological variables in
slalom (SL) and giant slalom (GS) performance, and 3) to
establish a regression equation to predict SL and GS performance
for junior male Alpine ski racers.
A group study research design was employed, which involved
pre-season and post-season tests. Measurements of SL and GS
performance were taken immediately after each test session.
Twenty one junior male Alpine ski racers were assessed for: i)
anthropometry following the International Biological program
(Weiner and Lourie, 1969) ; ii) muscular strength, power, and
endurance of quadricep and hamstring muscle groups using the Dual Channel Cybex II isokinetic unit and a Stoeling hand dynamometer
and also using vertical jump, box jump, and hexagonal jump tests;
iii) flexibility using the Leighton Flexometer and a sit and
reach test; iv) pulmonary function using the autospirometer AS-
700 (Minato Medical Science); v) aerobic power using a cycle
ergometer protocol (MacDougall, Wenger, and Green, 1982); vi)
anaerobic power and capacity using a cycle ergometer (Bar Or,
Dotan, and Inbar, 1977); and vii) anaerobic threshold determined
by locating an increase in the ventilatory eguivalent for O2
without an increase in ventilatory equivalent for CO2 and an
increase in FEO2 at the peak point of FECO2.
Three methods of statistical analyses were used to
investigate the results of the study: 1. Paired t-test of pre and
post-season results, 2. Pearson Product-Moment correlation
for both pre- and post-season results, and 3. Stepwise multiple
regression analyses of pre-season SL and GS performance and postseason
SL and GS performance.
The paired t-test indicated that slalom performance and hip
rotation degree significantly (p<.05) improved after the season,
and fatigue index for the hamstring muscle group in the left leg
showed a significant decline between pre- and post-season tests.
The Pearson Product-Moment correlation coefficient revealed
several significant (p<.05) relationships between skiing
performance (SL & GS) and selected variables as well as several
significant intercorrelations between the variables.
The stepwise multiple regression analyses revealed that age and hexagonal jump accounted for a large percentage of the
variability for both pre-and post-season SL and GS performance.
Additional stepwise multiple regression analyses were
applied to pre- and post-season SL and GS performance with the
independent variable "age" removed to investigate what other
predictors would account for the variation in the absence of the
age variable. In general, isometric quadricep strength in the
right leg accounted for most of the variance in 2 out of the 4
analyses and hexagonal jump accounted for most of the variance in
the remaining 2 analyses. | |
