Comparison of selected physical and performance characteristics in university-level male basketball, football and volleyball players

The purpose of present study was to compare the selected physical and performance variables of university-level basketball, football and volleyball players. The present study was conducted by 23 students studying in the faculty of health sciences and playing in their school's Football (n = 7), Volleyball (n = 8), Basketball (n = 8) teams and the age ranged from 18-23 years. Several physical and physiological characteristics of the students were evaluated. These characteristics are weight, height, BKI, flexibility, isometric muscle strength, muscular endurance, aerobic and anaerobic performance. While comparing between sports disciplines, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used for data with normal distribution, and Kruskal Wallis test was used for non-distributed data. The results of the study indicate that there was significant difference among Basketball, Volleyball and Football in relation to VO2 Max, muscle strength, anaerobic power. The aerobic performance test was significantly better in volleyball (p ≤ 0.05). However, there was no statistically significant difference in the results of physical properties, muscle endurance and flexibility among teams (p>0.05). These results will provide useful information for university level athletes to be selected according to sports-specific physical fitness criteria and that they should receive training by team coaches accordingly.