Anthropometric profile of female basketball players The influence of competitive level and playing position
Main Article Content
Abstract
This study aimed to analyse the anthropometric characteristics of female basketball players, focusing on competitive level and specific playing position. The sample included 62 female basketball players from teams across all senior women’s basketball leagues in Spain, (1st to 4th division). Different anthropometric measurements were evaluated to evaluate body composition and somatotype. Significant differences emerged between competitive levels, with higher-level players showing more favourable results in some measures. Furthermore, a distinctive profile was identified based on playing position: centers were generally taller, heavier and had higher percentages of body fat and muscle mass compared to forwards and guards. This study provides valuable information on the physical attributes of female basketball players across competitive levels, improving knowledge of the demands of current women’s basketball.
Downloads
Article Details
Section

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Each author warrants that his or her submission to the Work is original and that he or she has full power to enter into this agreement. Neither this Work nor a similar work has been published elsewhere in any language nor shall be submitted for publication elsewhere while under consideration by Journal of Human Sport and Exercise (JHSE). Each author also accepts that the JHSE will not be held legally responsible for any claims of compensation.
Authors wishing to include figures or text passages that have already been published elsewhere are required to obtain permission from the copyright holder(s) and to include evidence that such permission has been granted when submitting their papers. Any material received without such evidence will be assumed to originate from the authors.
Please include at the end of the acknowledgements a declaration that the experiments comply with the current laws of the country in which they were performed. The editors reserve the right to reject manuscripts that do not comply with the abovementioned requirements. The author(s) will be held responsible for false statements or failure to fulfill the above-mentioned requirements.
This title is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0).
You are free to:
Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format.
Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material.
The licensor cannot revoke these freedoms as long as you follow the license terms.
Under the following terms:
-
Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
-
NonCommercial — You may not use the material for commercial purposes.
-
ShareAlike — If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you must distribute your contributions under the same license as the original.
- No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.
Notices:
- You do not have to comply with the license for elements of the material in the public domain or where your use is permitted by an applicable exception or limitation.
- No warranties are given. The license may not give you all of the permissions necessary for your intended use. For example, other rights such as publicity, privacy, or moral rights may limit how you use the material.
How to Cite
References
Ackland, T. R., Schreiner, A. B., & Kerr, D. A. (1997). Absolute size and proportionality characteristics of World Championship female basketball players. Journal of sports sciences, 15(5), 485-490. https://doi.org/10.1080/026404197367128
Alvero, J. R., Cabañas, M. D., Herrero, A., Martínez, L., Moreno, C., Porta, J., et al. (2010). Protocolo de valoración de la composición corporal para el reconocimiento médico deportivo. Documento de consenso del Grupo Español de Cineantropometría (GREC) de la Federación Española de Medicina del Deporte (FEMEDE). Archivos de Medicina del Deporte, 27(139), 330-342.
Bayios, I. A., Bergeles, N. K., Apostolidis, N. G., Noutsos, K. S., & Koskolou, M. D. (2006). Anthropometric, body composition and somatotype differences of Greek elite female basketball, volleyball and handball players. The Journal of sports medicine and physical fitness, 46(2), 271- 280.
Cabarkapa, D., Cabarkapa, D. V., Nagy, D., Szabo, K., Balogh, L., Safar, S., & Ratgeber, L. (2024). Differences in anthropometric and vertical jump force-time characteristics between U16 and U18 female basketball players. Frontiers in sports and active living, 6, 1425475. https://doi.org/10.3389/fspor.2024.1425475
Campa, F., Bongiovanni, T., Matias, C. N., Genovesi, F., Trecroci, A., Rossi, A., Iaia, F. M., Alberti, G., Pasta, G., & Toselli, S. (2020). A New Strategy to Integrate Heath-Carter Somatotype Assessment with Bioelectrical 131 Impedance Analysis in Elite Soccer Player. Sports, 8(11), 142. https://doi.org/10.3390/sports8110142
Campa, F., Semprini, G., Júdice, P. B., Messina, G., & Toselli, S. (2019). Anthropometry, Physical and Movement Features, and Repeated-sprint Ability in Soccer Players. International Journal of Sports Medicine, 40(2), 100-109. https://doi.org/10.1055/a-0781-2473
Casajaús, J.A. & Aragonés, M.T. (1997). Estudio cineantropométrico del futbolista profesional español. Archivos de Medicina del Deporte, 14 (59), 177 - 184.
Cui, Y., Liu, F., Bao, D., Liu, H., Zhang, S., & Gómez, M. Á. (2019). Key anthropometric and physical determinants for different playing positions during national basketball association draft combine test. Frontiers in Psychology. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02359
Dominguez-Navarro, F., Casaña, J., Perez-Dominguez, B., Ricart-Luna, B., Cotolí-Suárez, P., & Calatayud, J. (2023). Dynamic balance and explosive strength appears to better explain single leg hop test results among young elite female basketball athletes. Scientific reports, 13(1), 5476. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-31178-7
Drinkwater, E. J., Pyne, D. B., & Mckenna, M. J. (2008). Design and Interpretation of Anthropometric and Fitness Testing of Basketball Players. Sports Medicine, 38(7). https://doi.org/10.2165/00007256-200838070-00004
Erčulj, F., Blas, M., Čoh, M., & Bračič, M. (2009). Differencesin Motor Abilities of Various Types of various types of European young elite female basketball players. Kinesiology, 41(2), 203-211.
Ferioli, D., Rampinini, E., Bosio, A., La Torre, A., Azzolini, M., & Coutts, A. J. (2018). The physical profile of adult male basketball players: Differences between competitive levels and playing positions. Journal of sports sciences, 36(22), 2567-2574. https://doi.org/10.1080/02640414.2018.1469241
Fox, J. L., Stanton, R., & Scanlan, A. T. (2018). A Comparison of Training and Competition Demands in Semiprofessional Male Basketball Players. Research quarterly for exercise and sport, 89(1), 103-111. https://doi.org/10.1080/02701367.2017.1410693
Gil, S. M., Badiola, A., Bidaurrazaga-Letona, I., Zabala-Lili, J., Gravina, L., Santos-Concejero, J., Lekue, J. A., & Granados, C. (2014). Relationship between the relative age effect and anthropometry, maturity and performance in young soccer players. Journal of sports sciences, 32(5), 479-486. https://doi.org/10.1080/02640414.2013.832355
Gryko, K., Adamczyk, J. G., Kopiczko, A., Calvo, J. L., Calvo, A. L., & Mikołajec, K. (2022). Does predicted age at peak height velocity explain physical performance in U13-15 basketball female players? BMC Sports Science, Medicine and Rehabilitation, 14(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13102-022-00414-4
González de los Reyes, Y., Gálvez Pardo, A. Y., & Mendoza Romero, D. (2020). Comparación antropométrica, fuerza explosiva y agilidad en jugadoras jóvenes de baloncesto de Bogotá- Colombia (Anthropometric comparison, explosive strength, and agility in young basketball players from Bogotá- Colombia). Retos, 38, 406-410. https://doi.org/10.47197/retos.v38i38.71967
Ibáñez, S. J., Mazo, A., Nascimento, J., & García-Rubio, J. (2018). The Relative Age Effect in under-18 basketball: Effects on performance according to playing position. PLoS ONE, 13(7). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0200408
Köklü, Y., Alemdaroǧlu, U., Koçak, F. Ü., Erol, A. E., & Findikoǧlu, G. (2011). Comparison of chosen physical fitness characteristics of turkish professional basketball players by division and playing position. Journal of Human Kinetics, 30(1), 99-106. https://doi.org/10.2478/v10078-011-0077-y
Mancha-Triguero, D., García-Rubio, J., Gamonales, J. M., & Ibáñez, S. J. (2021). Strength and Speed Profiles Based on Age and Sex Differences in Young Basketball Players. International journal of environmental research and public health, 18(2), 643. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18020643
Moncef, C., Said, M., Olfa, N., & Dagbaji, G. (2012). Influence of morphological characteristics on physical and physiological performances of tunisian elite male handball players. Asian journal of sports medicine, 3(2), 74-80. https://doi.org/10.5812/asjsm.34700
Ostojic, S. M., Mazic, S., & Dikic, N. (2006). Profiling in Basketball: Physical and Physiological Characteristics of Elite Players. In National Strength & Conditioning Association J. Strength Cond. Res (Vol. 20, Issue 4). https://doi.org/10.1519/00124278-200611000-00003
Rodríguez-Alonso, M.; Terrados, N.; Pérez-Landaluce, J.; Fernández, B.; García-Herrero, F. (1998). Déficit máximo acumulado de oxígeno en baloncesto femenino. Archivos de Medicina del Deporte XV (64), 115- 122.
Rodríguez-Fernández, A., Lago, Á., Ramírez-Campillo, R., Sánchez, M., & Sánchez-Sánchez, J. (2023). Cardiopulmonary- versus neuromuscularbased high-intensity interval training during a pre-season in youth female basketball players. Human Movement, 24(2), 44-51. https://doi.org/10.5114/hm.2023.115832
Salgado, I., Sedano-Campo, S., de Benito Trigueros, A., Izquierdo Velasco, J. & Cuadrado, G. (2009). Perfil antropométrico de las jugadoras de baloncesto españolas. Análisis en función del nivel competitivo y de la posición específica de juego. Revista Internacional de Ciencias del Deporte, 5. https://doi.org/10.5232/ricyde2009.01501
Vaquera, A., Santos, S., Villa, J. G., Morante, J. C., & García Tormo, V. (2015). Anthropometric Characteristics of Spanish Professional Basketball Players. Journal of Human Kinetics, 46(1), 99-106. https://doi.org/10.1515/hukin-2015-0038
Vaquera Jiménez, A. (2008). Heart rate response to game-play in professional basketball players. Journal of Human Sport and Exercise, 3(1), 1-9. https://doi.org/10.4100/jhse.2008.31.01
Ziv, G., & Lidor, R. (2009). Physical attributes, physiological characteristics, on-court performances and nutritional strategies of female and male basketball players. Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.), 39(7), 547-568. https://doi.org/10.2165/00007256-200939070-00003